A study trip of border operations could not be complete without experiencing the different ways by which thousands of people cross the border every day. To begin our trip, we all piled into a rental car at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, headed northeast and crossed the Blue Water Bridge from Port Huron, Michigan across the St. Clair River to Sarnia, Ontario.
It was a beautiful day with expansive views from the bridge (which we were not able to take in so well since traffic was at free flow), experienced virtually no wait at the border, and entered Canada without any delay or complication. From an operational standpoint, it was the perfect border crossing experience.
On our return trip several days later, and with our newfound skepticism for the structural and political integrity of the Ambassador Bridge, we chose to cross the border using the two-lane Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. The process was simple and painless: We paid a cash toll before entering the tunnel, were not impeded by any traffic and, when we emerged on U.S. soil, proceeded directly to the booth where we had another timely and simple border crossing.
If every border crossing experience were as simple and painless as this, we would be out of work!
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