Future of Trains in Metro Detroit

[RustTown]

Couldn't they coordinate the current Wolverine Amtrak line so that you could go from Royal Oak to Detroit, and then get the commuter service to get to the airport? Currently, there is a branch of the Wolverine from Pontiac to Detroit passing through Birmingham and Royal Oak.

BTW, if the private-public and the purely publically-proposed lines do happen to merge, what would this mean in terms of money left over from DDOT not having to go in this alone?

To be honest, I was hoping it would be the other way around and that the private-public would have to merge with the DDOT plan. I'm not so crazy about an additional transit agency. There is already DDOT, SMART, and Detroit Transportation Corporation (People Mover). Now were going to get another non-profit agency.

[Tig3rzhark313]

There is still the issue of the continued expansion of Detroit's mass transit beyond the Woodward LRT. That's all nice and good, but still people like me that depend on the buses to get around Detroit are going to need more than just a train going down Woodward.

And how are all of them going to converge together downtown is the question. Will they loop around campus martius like they did in the old days when we had the best mass transit in the world.

Personally, I think the people mover still has a use as a loop system similar to Chicago. There can be a way where the following streets Fort, Michigan, Grand River, and Gratiot could be connected to the people using existing monorail track which is what should have been done in the first place.

If Detroit had the money and the population, it could have expanded the people mover in that manner instead of turning it into a downtown shuttle.

Let the Woodward LRT be built as far as people are willing to expand it, but don't forget about the rest of detroit.

I'm also going to say this right now, those BRTs are not going to cut it. Everytime a Detroiter has to catch the bus it takes a very long time to get to where they need to go. The local buses are rarely on time and the express lines rarely run at all.

[RustTown]

Everything has to start somewhere (the Woodward LRT is a test line), and all of this is a great start. There really is no need to malign what this means to region.

[tapezord]

Hi all, I just got back from a few hours of Detroit Transit fun:

Today, at 3 PM, John Hertel convened a meeting of the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council. At this meeting, the big 4 (Patterson, Ficano, Crouchman and Cockrell) voted unanimously in favor of the RTCC's proposed regional plan. In this plan, Hertel and his consultants lay the ground work for governance, funding (saying that we need it), route selection and implementation of over 10.5 Billion dollar worth of transit improvements. There will be likely be write ups in Crain's and the Dailys about this tomorrow.

A general synopsis of the plan is available at: http://www.semcog.org/uploadedfiles/Progra...ngMaterials.pdf

I didn't think the day would ever come where I would see L Brooks Patterson say "yes" to transit.

Also, we are pretty close to getting legislation that will permit for construction and operation of LRT on Woodward Avenue. The senate passed 4 bills that basically take the old street car legislation and re-write it to allow for light rail vehicles on a state trunklines (Woodward Avenue). There is a separate packages that still need to be voted on by the senate that would provide a 3 Million dollars/year supplement to operate the system. All of the bills have already passed the house.

[Gangway1111]

Here is some additional material.

Local powerbrokers, state legislature give OK to mass transit plans

http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/tran...sgetok0096.aspx

[URBbum]

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.

[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/news/citpat/index.ssf....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.

[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

[jbr12]

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

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/12/21/congress-approves-m1-involvement-in-detroit-light-rail/

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