Public Versus Private, Again

I thought you might be interested in reading this story from the Detroit News about changes at the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel. Or rather, on the US side of the Tunnel.

To me, it shows the difference about how private enterprise and the Government run a business.

In passing, if Alinda, who operates the Detroit half under an agreement with Detroit for about a dozen more years, is going to be spending all this money, what does it say to a Tunnel deal between Windsor and Detroit? Alinda, as the operator on the Detroit side is not giving up in its fight to maintain its operation of the Tunnel is it.

As you may recall the private enterprise Owner of the Ambassador Bridge has added Customs booths on both sides of the river to help speed traffic through. By adding only four booths, he was able to eliminate most of the truck backups on Huron Church Road. I wrote:

• “In fact, with the new booths opened recently, the Bridge Company has added in almost the equivalent number of booths as are located at the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel. In other words, we have a new crossing already!”

In a BLOG that I wrote a few weeks ago, I asked when writing about the Bridge Company’s transponder system:

• “How can bureaucrats and a former young entrepreneur of the year who play with taxpayer money and not their own ever believe that they can defeat someone who puts his own bank account on the line every day with his border crossing…
  
  I'm sure that you read the Star story about the transponder that the Bridge Company is offering to speed people through tollbooths after they have used their Nexus card to speed through Customs on both sides of the river.”

I wrote subsequently

• “With a NEXUS card and a transponder or credit card, a bridge user barely needs to stop when crossing between Canada and the United States. If there is a stop, the amount of time needed for inspection is minimal since the person has been precleared.
  
  The more that people use this system, the more people that can be cleared using existing facilities. Explain to me again why we need a new border crossing.”

Now we see the private operator on the Detroit side taking some similar actions as well:

• “Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to roll out toll passes to save time
  Paul Egan / The Detroit News
  
  DETROIT -- Travelers crossing the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel next spring will be able to use wallet-sized cards to pay tolls electronically, saving time and easing congestion, officials said Monday. Neal Belitsky, the tunnel CEO and general manager, also said plans are in the works to revamp the cramped plaza on the Detroit side of the tunnel to add one more inspection lane for the processing of vehicles arriving from Windsor.
  
  Electronic tolls should be available for those crossing from Detroit to Windsor next spring; the change is also being considered by Windsor officials who control the Canadian side of the tunnel, though a date for implementation there has not been set, Belitsky said at a news conference.
  
  The toll cards will be read by an electronic scanner and should shave about 15 seconds per vehicle off the time it takes to enter the tunnel, he said.
  
  "When you multiply that by the total number of vehicles that go through, that's a real time saving."
  
  About 6 million vehicles a year cross the tunnel.
  
  Travelers will be able to put money on their cards using a Web site, among other methods, he said.
  
  The option of paying cash would still be available, though authorities will probably stop selling tunnel tokens within about six months, he said.
  
  Belitsky said tunnel authorities will soon detail plans to reconfigure the Detroit tunnel plaza and increase the number of inspection lanes for arriving vehicles to 11, from 10. Combined with other changes, the revamped plaza should increase the capacity for the handling of incoming vehicles by about 20 percent, he said.
  
  Construction should begin early in 2009 and be completed by the end of next year, he said. Work will be concentrated in off-peak times to minimize travel disruptions, he said.
  
  Also, starting this November, all lanes for arriving vehicles on the Detroit side will be able to perform electronic reading of cards such as Nexus, for frequent travelers, as well as new enhanced driver licenses and passports that can be read electronically.
  
  Officials at the Windsor Tunnel Commission could not immediately be reached to say when electronic toll paying would begin on the Canadian side of the tunnel.”

They are introducing a new electronic payment system similar it seems to the transponder concept and are improving the Detroit Plaza. If they can handle an extra 20% more vehicles, then I ask again why is a new bridge needed?

What is the publicly owned Windsor side of the Tunnel doing? Unfortunately we don’t know because they could not be reached to answer the question. We do know that the Tunnel Improvement Project has been put off for years and the cost of the Improvements have escalated dramatically.

A Crains Detroit article did not give us any Windsor information either but told us some more about the construction:

• "The electronic cards are initially for entering the U.S. side of the border, Belitsky said. Plans remain under discussion with Canadian authorities to implement the service in Windsor.
  
  
  
  The plaza expansion will include infrastructure improvements, a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection office, renovated roadway and implementation of dual-service booths."

Perhaps this is a P3-1 arrangement between Windsor and Alinda: public/private lack of partnership!

One point...people on the Star Forum about this story say that saving a few seconds at the toll booths means nothing when you have to wait an hour or more in the Tunnel to clear US Customs even with a NEXUS card. After all, there there is only one lane in the Tunnel and there are tie-ups at US Customs. Now perhaps you may understand why the Enhancement Project bridge is necessary. It adds a third lane in each direction so pre-cleared vehicles have their own lane for speedy Customs clearance.

And you want the Governments to build a DRIC bridge. You cannot still be serious about that!