85 replies to this topic

[URBbum]

Gangway1111, on Dec 6 2008, 05:21 PM, said:

How soon does everyone here think the private light rail line can get started (construction or completion) once it has passed through the final green light.

I would think the ribbon cutting will happen within 6 months to a year once the funding is guaranteed. From there, 6 months following you can start to find the equipment to show on site. My guess would be 2013 for the first riders.

Lmichigan, on Posted Dec 6 2008, 09:27 PM, said:

I'm not so crazy about an additional transit agency.

This was exactly what I was making light of in a previous post. Things will get harder if there are conflicting agencies and resources can be lost very easily from regional funding, etc.

Tig3rzhark313- When I was in town last month I rode the People Mover to see how it functions now with demand and possible growth. Besides now running clockwise and few new unfamiliar stops it was just as fun as I remember when I was a kid.

Right now, it serves its purpose as transporting those who are going to the casino and Wings games (My friend and I were the only ones not to get off at either stop - we rode the whole loop). My critique was that it doesn't support long term growth. For one the platforms can't be enlarged for adding trains - limited size and your stuck with what's there. You could make a short fix of adding an extra train if ridership increased, but that would be a mess at peak times with pushing shoving and people unwilling to wait for "the next train."

One positive note, at least the infrastructure is present and can be built upon when greater technology is developed in 15-25 years. I would love to see the People Mover's loop expand and work cohesively with other multi-modal options. When that day comes the dubbed "World's Great Mass Transit Demo Project" can be consider a mass transit success -period.

Back on track with regards to the Woodward LRT I think it's a win-win. People will be more likely to spend a whole day in Detroit by parking at an endpoint (GM HQ or State Fairgrounds) and enjoy spots in between. The success might encourage some redevelopment within some those decaying areas. It's no secret that dollar per mile has grown since 2000. What once was priced at $50M/mile at completion time is now upwards to $50M-70M/mile. Hopefully, the transit authority can counter budget issues by investing in smart futures forecasting to counteract the imminent inflation issues.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Governor Granholm wants $800 million in federal stimulus money to create a high-speed rail line between Chicago and Detroit.  It would go as fast as 110 mph and have stops in Jackson and Dearborn.

http://www.mlive.com...f....xml&coll=3

[Gangway1111]

I want $800 million and a space ship, but it is never going to happen.

If we keep waiting for federal funding for our transit projects, we will be waiting forever.

We need to find local funding for this stuff.

Edited by Gangway1111, 25 August 2009 - 07:55 PM.

[Gangway1111]

An update on the Troy/Birmingham Transit Center

WDIV story on Transit Center

It looks like this project is moving forward after all

Video

Edited by Gangway1111, 14 December 2009 - 02:16 PM.

[jbr12]

Not sure if this is news to anyone here but...

http://www.thetransp...oit-light-rail/

Quote

Congress Approves M1 Involvement in Detroit Light Rail

Public-private partnerships could bring big benefits to the Motor City. But they might be sending the wrong message about governmental responsibility.

If Detroit has yet to receive the kind of huge public investment that may well be necessary to save it, it hasn’t been entirely forgotten by its natives. Over the past year, a group of individuals and corporations have donated tens of millions of dollars towards the creation of an entity that would construct a new rail line down the city’s primary corridor, Woodward Avenue. Their example of direct private involvement in a transit project for a non-profit purpose is unique, and the U.S. Congress has authorized what may be a first-in-the-nation approach. Is it the right one?

Detroit, as has been discussed over and over, has been losing population for decades and its industrial base has been disappearing for years. The city’s leaders have been notoriously poor at responding to its problems; most relevant to this website, they rejected several hundred million dollars in the 1970s for a full-scale rail system, ultimately building only a one-way loop around the city center called the People Mover — a depressing failure.

The group of private and non-profit investors, calling themselves M1 Rail, are attempting to use spending on a 3.4-mile light rail line down Woodward to revive the city’s spirits and potentially its economy. This corridor runs diagonally out from the center of the city and has always been considered the top priority for transit investment in Detroit. The group’s $125 million project would extend from downtown’s Hart Plaza to Grand Boulevard and include 12 stops, meaning one every quarter-mile. This proposal, now almost fully funded, seems on the brink of reaching the construction stage. Using federal funds, the city would eventually extend the line to a total of eight miles at a cost of $425 million.

[Gangway1111]

This is exactly the kind of investment that Detroit needs for transportation systems, all local.
We have been waiting for federal funding that has only ever built a toy train to nowhere, this is where real transit options will come from.

Sorry for the anger but who ever wrote the article questioning this option "Is it the right one?" just makes no sense.

Anyway glad to see this project is almost fully funded and now authorized.

By the way, is there any news on the Detroit to Ann Arbor commuter rail, or the Wally Commuter rail line?

Thanks,
Gangway