We were sold the same bill of goods by salesmen in the middle of the night on fast ferry service from Rochester > Toronto.

We were PROMISED that tourism alone would pay for it.

10 years later, an empty ferry terminal, and multiple million dollar leases are still being paid on for a ferry service that we sold to an New Zealand company for 50 cents on the dollar.

Be wary, Detroit.

The Detroit River separating Detroit and Windsor is 2.5 miles wide at its widest point. That puts this more in line with the ferries across the Hudson from NYC to NJ, or those across the Mississippi in New Orleans. Much more feasible.

I certainly hope that this isn't a scam to line the pockets of the developers creating this 'opportunity' as we've seen to no always be the case.

Good luck, Detroit.

And I would agree with Tahiti Nut that it would likely be a lot of actual commuters most of the time.

I could also see some use for getting to the casinos or weekend nights on the town. That's probably the main tourism draw between Detroit and Windsor - a change of scene for the locals and suburbanites. In both cities most casinos and a lot of nightlife are close to where this boat terminal is.

Detroit's riverfront has changed for the better in the last few years. In this case the terminal is already there. My first instinct at the headline was 'cool!'.

I would need to know more about what is behind this (and I am too lazy/distracted to research at the moment, LOL) before having a real strong opinion - goodness knows Detroit is being bought cheap and nasty in some ways right now by developers and others with pure profit motive, so I am skeptical of just about everything (eg the new bridge).

But there may be some logic to doing this, aside from some private profit situation.

It seems to me the prevalent use would be for Windsor residents working in Detroit, of whom there are plenty. The success of such a ferry would hinge on connecting shuttle service to the DMC, WSU, Ford Hospital, and other employment "magnets." Nurses and college personnel (staff and students) are two of the target demographics, I'd guess. (Yes, I dated a nurse living in Windsor and working in Detroit once upon a time.) The cost of the ferry and shuttle would have to be competitive with tunnel/bridge fees and parking/gas. The problem, as I see it, is that there's no symmetry ... Detroit residents working in Windsor.

"Tourism" just doesn't hack it. I can't envision the ferry being an automobile ferry (a la Seattle) since the tunnel and bridges (Ambassador and Port Huron) are quite adequate other than during rush hours. A passenger ferry service for "tourists" would be ridiculous, since neither Detroit nor Windsor have a pedestrian-friendly ecology ... either in geographic compactness or weather. Thus, neither are pedestrian "destinations" like NYC, Chicago, or San Francisco ... it's about as silly to think of pedestrian tourism in Detroit/Windsor as it would be in Los Angeles.

when I can just take the bridge or the tunnel? Waste of money.