A WTF On The Rainbow Bridge
Recently, I was with business colleagues near Buffalo, NY. Since we arrived the day before the actual business part of the trip was to take place, we decided to go over to Niagara Falls, NY to check out the Falls. All of us had brought passports with us just in case we decided to go over onto the Canadian side.
We arrange for transportation to get us to Niagara Falls, NY. And as soon as we get there and kind of scope everything out, we decide we are going to just head over to the Canadian side, since that is where most of the nightlife and attractions are. So we go over to the Rainbow Bridge, which is a pedestrian (and car) bridge that you can walk over that will take you right into Canada.
We clear customs on the Canadian side, no problem, and check out everything there is to check out. The beautiful Falls, the casino, the souvenir shops, etc. Basically we just spent the evening walking around enjoying the sights having a fun time. Eventually, we decide its time to head back over to the US side, so we'll be ready early for what we needed to do the next morning.
We didn't have to meet with a customs official as we were leaving Canada (you only have to customs entering each country, not exiting), so we walk into the little building which has the door to get back onto the bridge. And as we get into the building, which has no one in it, we see turnstyles, like the kind you see on a subway that you have to pay to go through to get onto the subway. And all of us are like, gee, I wonder what are those for???
Turns out that in order to get out the door to get back onto the bridge that will take you back into the US, you have to pay 50 cents to go through the turnstyle first. At first we couldn't believe it, then we all just started cracking up because we found the whole thing so ridiculously funny. There wasn't the equivalent when leaving the US side, so it really threw us for a loop. All of us are hunting around in our bags and pockets to come up with the change--it would take either US or Canadian. And if you didn't have change, no problem, they had a handy-dandy bill changer right there (which is good service on their part I suppose).
We all paid the 50 cents, exited through the door and onto the bridge to walk back to the US, still laughing. But we were all wondering what would happen if someone didn't have the change to pay to get through the turnstyle. Or if they hopped the turnstyle (something none of us dared to do). We would have been okay with paying a bridge toll if we were in a car crossing back, or a fare if we were taking a shuttle of some sort across. But it was the first time any of us had ever seen a "toll" for a pedestrian bridge!
ETA: Apparently, there is a "toll" on the Canadian side, whether you are on foot, bicycle or car. But this is the first time we had ever seen/heard of a "toll" for a pedestrian, which is kind of what had us scratching our heads.