Essential workers who cross the U.S. border with Canada using the Ambassador Bridge will no longer have to pay tolls during the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning on May 21.
Ambassador Bridge chairman Matthew Moroun said the cost of passenger vehicle tolls will be covered by the Canadian Transit Company, a company owned by his family.
“We appreciate the men and women on the front lines who are working to keep us safe. We wanted to take this action to try to alleviate some of the stress of a daily commute for essential workers who cross our bridge every day. This is a small thing we can do to show that we see your daily sacrifice and we are grateful,” says Mouron.
The Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario in Canada to Detroit, Michigan in the U.S., has been closed for non-essential travel since late March. Only those workers who were crossing to perform essential services related to the COVID-19 pandemic are allowed to cross. Last month, workers crossed the bridge an estimated 52,000 times.
“This is the right thing to do under the circumstances. Nurses and other critical infrastructure employees need all of the support we can provide at this time,” says Ambassador Bridge President Dan Stamper.
In another thank you to the essential workers crossing the border, Ambassador Bridge Duty Free has partnered with Khalsa Aid to provide free fresh meals to all the truckers, healthcare workers and border employees who pass by each day. Khalsa Aid, an international Sikh organization, sets up food distribution each Thursday and Sunday from 12pm -2pm outside the Ambassador Bridge Duty Free store.
