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Local Tourist / TransportationTown removes safety rumble strips after complaints from residents
WindsorOntarioNews.com April 25 2018 It didn’t take long for the Town of Amherstburg to react to citizen complaints about the annoyance of nearby so-called “transverse rumble strips.” The strips were installed or re-installed – depending on location – on roads near several rural intersections only last November. “Transverse” means the strips cross the full lane of the road. Unlikely agency comes to aid of cyclists
WindsorOntarioNews.com October 25 2017 An unlikely organization has come to the air of cyclists - the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). If you have a membership with the CAA – and it’s usually motorists who do – that membership also includes help for problems when you happen to be travelling on two wheels. The program is called Bike Assist.
Everything you wanted to know about crash-prone Hwy 401 construction zone
WindsorOntarioNews.com August 25 2017 A stretch of Hwy 401 in Chatham-Kent has become increasingly dangerous this summer with several major traffic accidents resulting in deaths and injuries. Between April and July there were 61 motor vehicle accidents – 28 that included commercial vehicles or tractor trailers – in a construction zone. The OPP estimates up to 50,000 vehicles a day pas through that zone.
Don't like daytime construction? You might really dislike the alternative
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 27 2017 Motorists griping about the city’s numerous summer construction projects might be complaining about something else if the city moved them to the wee hours of the night. Noise. City staff say they get a lot of feedback from motorists about the inconvenience of lane closures and driving around construction barrels during hot and dusty daytime streets.
Kids walking to school promotes exercise, fights traffic congestion
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 10 2017 Traffic tie-ups around schools is a perennial problem in parts of Windsor. It’s also part of a wider syndrome of the way children travel and the real or perceived attitudes towards safety and convenience. A national organization is trying to combat parents driving their kids to school, approaching the issue from several perspectives.
Toronto research firm's 'Pure Michigan' campaign's ROI stats questioned
WindsorOntarioNews.com May 5 2017 The Pure Michigan campaign which Canadians are familiar with from the soothing tones of narrator and TV actor Tim Allen’s voice, has been targeted as a huge waste of money that generates a pittance in tourism re-investment. That’s the opinion of the conservative market-oriented Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which published the study’s results last fall.
London's '100In1Day' festival
WindsorOntarioNews.com March 8 2017 London is celebrating all that’s great about its city in one day, and you don’t have to be from London to take part. The event, taking place June 3, follows similar activities in other cities such as Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal. This is London’s first time holding the celebration. Four Freedoms - Olde Sandwich Towne's little known intersection
WindsorOntarioNews.com January 31 2017 You might know it as the corner where Mackenzie Hall and the nearby former Windsor Jail is located. It’s also the site of St. John’s Anglican Church. And the relatively new Brock school and the Westgate senior citizen apartment complex are on the southwest and southeast corners respectively. More Customs ABC kiosks designed to expedite long Pearson airport lineups
WindsorOntarioNews.com Dec 8 2016 If you’ve noticed the waits in the line ups being quicker lately at the Canada Customs areas at Toronto's Pearson International airport it might be because the government has added several new automated machines to speed processing. “At the Toronto Pearson International Airport, eight additional ABC kiosks were added at both Terminals One and Three over the period late-May to mid-June 2016,” Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) spokesman Derek Lawrence said.
Distracted driving case? Ont. launched stark anti-texting campaign in June
WindsorOntarioNews.com October 12 2016 The recent distracted driving – texting – case in Windsor was a local high profile example of an ongoing epidemic of such phone related behavior, which the Ontario government says it is strongly targeting. Windsor resident DJ Cassady last month was sentenced to three-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death in the July 2015 crash which saw Cassady’s Infiniti hit Amherstburg motorcyclist Donald Russell on the E.C. Row Expressway.
On Via Rail, no longer a mad scramble for best train seats
WindsorOntarioNews.com Sept. 14 2016 When you board a train these days it’s almost the same as boarding an airplane. No longer can you choose your seats when you get on a Via Rail coach. Instead, when you book your ticket you are assigned to a specific seat by number.
In between a staycation and a vacation: this book has ideas
WindsorOntarioNews.com July 11 2016 Want an alternative to a vacation or staycation? Why not take a day trip – or even a brief overnighter – and tour several of Ontario’s top natural attractions? A good guide is the newly-released (by Firefly Books) 100 Nature Hot Spots in Ontario, by Chris Earley and Tracy C. Read.
Two more years left of Toronto's "Dig Down" Union Station reconstruction
WindsorOntarioNews.com May 26 2016 Train travellers arriving at Toronto’s Union Station might feel that they’ve been emerging into an never-ending construction zone. Well, construction has been going on for six years as the venerable station is transformed into a larger and more accessible transit hub for Via and GO Transit trains.
"Cat's eyes" have some pavement
WindsorOntarioNews.com April 4 2016 They’re known as “cat’s eyes.” And they’re a lot more prevalent on highways in other jurisdictions than they are in Ontario. Still, the province uses them if perhaps more strategically. These are embedded pavement reflectors that light up at night when headlights are shone upon them.
Have trouble navigating Pearson International? You're hardly alone
WindsorOntarioNews.com March 9 2016 Confused about getting around Toronto’s Pearson airport? You’re not alone, if complaints to the Consumers Association of Canada are any indication. Bruce Cran, president of the CAC, says he gets a “tremendous amount” of complaints about the airport – “it’s hundreds a year that we get.”
A derelict Detroit alley transformed
WindsorOntarioNews.com February 4 2016 What was only a few years ago a derelict alley has been transformed into an internationally-acclaimed walkway, chock full of huge pieces of contemporary art, benches and, increasingly, restaurants and bars. It’s called The Belt and runs between Gratiot and East Grand River, in between two halves of “the Z” parking garage, itself a unique structure that is filled with art from around the world.
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A very cheap way to get to Metro Airport
Sure, it’s a little more inconvenient. But if you really want to save money – and don’t want to incur parking charges at Detroit’s Metro Airport or ride a Robert Q Airbus for $50.41 one-way, you can do something a little unconventional but it works. Take the Tunnel Bus ($5 Can one-way) to downtown Detroit. And then transfer to the SMART Detroit bus system Route 125. The fare is only $2 US and buses alternately run to the McNamara Terminal (Delta Airlines and partners) and the North Terminal. – 4/26/18
Wow to WOW fares
WOW air, an Icelandic “ultra-low” cost airline, known for its vivid purple-colored planes and matching flight attendant uniforms, is offering flights from Detroit to Iceland for $69 one-way. Fares go on sale today for flights between May 1 and June 20 and Sept. 1 – Oct. 27. The fare includes taxes and fees. The offer applies to 1480 seats on aircraft flying from 13 US cities “on selected flights” based on round-trip purchase. WOW air boasts the world’s newest aircraft made up of Airbus planes. – 4/26/18
New frequent Detroit - Ann Arbor bus service
Want to go to Ann Arbor but don’t have a car? Starting Oct. 30, there will be frequent seven-day bus service from Detroit to the college city, which abounds in cultural activities, great restaurants and of course the largest stadium in the western hemisphere. University of Michigan this week announced an expansion of its Detroit Connector bus service from students to the general public. The schedule begins at 7 am and runs until 1 am. You can book online. For Windsorites, the one hitch would be getting from a Windsor Tunnel Bus stop downtown to UM’s Detroit Center, about a mile up Woodward and just past the new Little Caesars Arena. You can walk, take a Detroit city bus, taxi or of course, ride-sharing services. – 10/24/17
Easing the hassle paying at US pumps
Some may know the secret but others not. And living so close to the US everyone should know. That’s how to pay at the pump at an American gas station without having to punch in a US zip code. Many frustrated Canadians believe they still have to go into the station and have the clerk keep the credit card while activating the pump. When the vehicle is filled the customer goes back and the clerk processes the card. Time-consuming, right? But all that can be avoided by using a little numerical trickery. It’s not illegal and in fact Mastercard a few years ago came up with the solution. Just enter the three numbers of your postal code – forget the letters – and add two zeroes. So, if your postal code is A2B 3C4 simply enter 23400. And as the old- fashioned slogan had it, Happy Motoring! – 4/10/17
A new bus route is born: the LaSalle 25
LaSalle’s new bus route will be known as the LaSalle 25. The route, operated by Transit Windsor, begins Sept. 5 and will be offered free until the end of the year. Buses will operate Monday – Saturday 7 am to 7 pm and there will be a second bus during peak weekday morning and afternoon hours. The entire route will take 45 minutes and will run from Morton Dr. and Front Rd. to St. Clair College and vice versa. It will connect neighborhoods such as Heritage Estates, Normandy St., LaSalle Town Centre, the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex, and Front Road through the old downtown. The route will “capture” 70 per cent of the houses in the town’s urban area, the municipality says. Passengers will be able to transfer to other Transit Windsor routes - the South Windsor 7, Dougall 6 and Dominion 5. South Windsor 7 travels to Devonshire Mall and Walker Rd. The Dougall 6 and Dominion 5 travel to downtown Windsor. – 16/8/17
London Via Rail station could be revamped again
London’s Via Rail station, which is just a decade and half old, may be revamped again if the city becomes a stop on a provincial hi-speed rail line. An older Via station, in a modern black office tower, was demolished in 2001, to make way for what might be described as the current standard looking Via station. A report by London city staff said the station could be revamped again to include two new high speed rail platforms, three traditional Via platforms, and “intermodal” connections to local bus services, including the city’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. But London’s director of roads and transportation Edward Soldo is playing down the report, telling WON.com “it is just pure speculation to even be talking about it. I’m trying to put that story to bed, frankly, because it’s not what I want repeated out there.” An environmental assessment on the $20 billion line is just getting started. The line’s first phase would be between Toronto and London, completed in 2025. It would eventually extend to Windsor by 2031. – 3/8/17
Transit planners well aware of exchange rate changes
A Windsor Star story today “kind of” misreported a financing issue for a Transit Windsor bus order, says Transit Windsor general manager Pat Delmore. The story generated some online mockery against the municipal transit agency. The story may have made it seem transit planners were unaware of a US exchange rate difference between when the purchase order was made and confirmation of government grant funding. This left an extra bill of $215,000. “Wow, asking bureaucrats and especially politicians to think logically is a real tall order,” one commenter said. But Delmore said his staff were aware there could be a deviation in price. “We have general pricing on buses and we put into our capital budget, knowing what we know at the time,” he said. “The day we place our order is when the US exchange is recognized. This additional money is simply to confirm the pricing at the time of order and any fluctuation in pricing based on US dollar at the time of order. The budget is there, we just needed council approval for the actual price.” One commentator wanted to know why the agency was paying in US dollars. “These buses could not be purchased from a Canadian manufacturer?” Delmore said the money is for that portion of the buses manufactured in Plattsburg, NY. But most of the work is done at Nova Bus’s headquarters in St-Eustache, Quebec. – 29/6/17
Ambassador Bridge paving almost finished
There's a smooth ribbon of pavement where there used to be uneven surface and potholes along the Ambassador Bridge span. The paving took place at the same time as the bridge is installing new guardrails. "Paving is done on the bridge, we plan on doing more on Canadian Plaza," says Stan Korosec, Director of Canadian Government Relations and Security for the Detroit International Bridge Company. "Current lane configuration will stay in place (4 lanes US side, 3 lanes Canadian side) as work on guardrail and sidewalk continue for another year or so." - 22/5/17