Detroits People Mover and the Future of Mass Transit in the Motor City.

[Anonymous]

Last week I rode Detroits People mover for the second time in my life.
"The Mugger Mover" has been malined as a boondoggle by the critics of Coleman Youngs adminstratration. Even though the guy is dead he is admired and maligned at the same time. I got on at finacial center. The Station was hard to find because it was 3 storys above the street and the elevater was hard to find. I finaly found the station. The token machine was not working so I had to jump the turnstyle NYC style. It was very quiet above the bustle of Detroits Streets and I was a little nervois not having many people around. Finally there was a humming and two miniture subway cars slid into the station. One other man got on who was a buisnessman staying in the hotel next door.
I got up front and watched like a kid on a amusemenmt ride in a theme park as to what would happen next. The G pull was mild and the tracks (yes there were tracks) pulled under me. We pulled into a 1970s style mod station the doors opened no one got on. and then to another station that reminded me of something out of Star Wars 70s mod. A Maintance man for the People Mover got on and I intiated a conversation. He explained that this was Coleman Youngs Idea and that he was a great man who finaly brought blacks to the same table as whites in what was the most segrated city in america and that he tried to Modernise the city and created jobs. The People Mover has 12 cars and I belive about 12 stations. It employes about 30 people to take care of the tracks and the cars. They Give tours of the shops in the morning by reservation.
One thing that I noticed is how much of Downtown Detroit is a Abanided Hulk.
40 story buildings stand empty and the Statler which was the citys (The Statler was the first major hotel chain in this country) finast hotel was being preped to be blown up. In a later converastion I had with a former Detroiter in Port Huron
He explained that the Statler was alowed to degrade into a Welfare Hotel
and the area was overrun by Prostitues and Ballers. The Cadillac Building was one of this citys worst white elepahants and despite several attemps to fix it up nothing has come to frutation.
The People Mover went though the convention center though a tunnel which was very much like a subway but it was in truth above ground.
The Next station wa sthe water front and got off there eager for the fresh air by the Detroit River.
My next mission was to Ride out to a Bed & Breakfast In New Balitimore.
Most of the Metro Detroits Buses start at city hall. The system is spilt into two separate systems but they honor each others fare cards. DDOT is owned by the city and is the last major city in the US not to have there transit system as part of a seperate public authority. SMART (formerly Semta) is the Suberban System. Both have undergone major cuts in service. Much to my chagrin there are only 4 buses in the city that use the freeways and only at Rush Hour. Futhermore none were going to were I needed to be. So much for even NJ transit style buses bouncing on the freeway to home. The Gratiot SMART bus showed up. About 25 people got on. The Bus was hot and and so was the driver who was not in the mood to be asked questions. The bus took about 15 min to get though traffic and twisdt and turns to gert to Gratiot Ave.
Detroit is a Multilayered. The "Mile Road" System goes all the way out to 23 mile road. As people moved out they built shopping centers and housing with them. The Oldest parts in the city date from the 1920s then to the 1940s then to the the 1950s with the First Strip shopping centers. Each Mile road repressented a era in American Suberban Archetechture From Shopping Malls of the 1960s to 21st Century Home Depot at 23 mile road. The Complextion of People became lighter as more white people fled to the suberbs fearing crime both real and perceived leaving used up Housing behind it that Poorer blacks could ill aford to maintain. Roads in the Motor City are Awful! The roads have expansion joints every 20 feet which make for a very bumpy ride. You dont get soild strips of ashphault till you get to New Baltimore.
One thing that I noticed in my trip here was...That on many major streets including the mile streets there are wide meduim strips that could acomidate
Light Rail. Woodward of course had Light Rail. But Gratiot and 9 Mile and and many others have grassy Meduiam strips that could easly acomidate light rail.
The problem here is in Detroit that Buses are looked as a way for poor people to get around. Also the Bus system is Slow and offers no allternitive for white middle class people who vote to support Public transit as opposed to Chicago which Metra and the El are used by people of all classes and races. Detroit has never had a viable "mass transit" system. Its bus system only exists because it has to otherwise its large underclass could not get around and even that is going to be cut to bare bones. There is no service to Plymouth or Port Huron. Now it is Possible to Commute Via Amtrak From Pontiac and Oak Lawn. One would get on Amtrak at Oak at 710am get into Detroit about 20 minutes later. But you would have to have Cocktails after work till about 800pm because there is no 515 train. Your weekly ticket would run 85.00. Avantage to this is that you woould not have to sit on a hot crowded bus on Woodward and Toss up your breakfast from the fumes.
Is there a Future for rail transit system in Detroits Future?
The people mover is on the cover of Mayor Kwame Kilpatric "Urban Agenda"http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/mayor/images/Urban%20Agenda.pdf
but there is no talk of Expanding the System. The talk with transit now is combining DDOT and SMART into one system. Light Rail is being planned by one of the Suberbs but
No study has been done on rail in the past 20 years and none is planned. I talked to several public officials at the city Including the Mayors Office and nothing is being planned. One comment was "This is the Motor City what do you expect?". Well....For one thing Detroit does have a network of Freight Railroad lines that could acomidate Commuter Rail. The Automotive industry depends on these railroads and they are not going away anytime soon. Yes I know there was one line to Pontiac 18 years ago but this is today and gas prices and polution is bad in Detroit. Then there is the St Clair River. High Speed Ferrys could whisk people from Port Huron and Toledo to Detroit and the Casinos at Windsor. Next there should be two major High Speed Light Rail Lines Going Down Woodward to Pontiac and Going Down Graiot to New Baltimore. Next all major city bus lines should have there own Right Of way and lanes and extinsive network of Freeway buses should be implemented. It took me almost 2 hours to go 23 miles on the Gratiot bus vs. 25 min in a car.
There are almost no faciltys for bikes. Roads are so bad that you have to replace your car every 4 years becase the frame gets cracked. Buses are hot and they stink. Conspirecy to puni***hose who dont have a car by the big 3 Automotive Industry in the Motor City---Maybe...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Peterson6868


One thing that I noticed is how much of Downtown Detroit is a Abanided Hulk.
40 story buildings stand empty and the Statler which was the citys (The Statler was the first major hotel chain in this country) finast hotel was being preped to be blown up. In a later converastion I had with a former Detroiter in Port Huron
He explained that the Statler was alowed to degrade into a Welfare Hotel
and the area was overrun by Prostitues and Ballers. The Cadillac Building was one of this citys worst white elepahants and despite several attemps to fix it up nothing has come to frutation.

I really wi***hey had rennovated/restored Tiger Stadium.
That old ball park had a lot more character than Comerica

[DPD1]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tomtrain

What did Pittsburgh do right that Detroit hasn't figured out? I was in Pittsburgh a month or so ago, and it's central city is vibrant. The city was built by Steel which is now pretty much gone. Is it that Detroit still thinks it's the Motor City?

Good question... A lot of the cities have really done a good job of reclaiming their central downtown and inner urban areas over the last 10 years or so... Even Los Angeles has improved. I remember reading that they were working on the problem in Detroit, but apparently they haven't solved it yet.

Dave
-DPD Productions - Featuring the NEW TrainTenna LP Directional RR Radio Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/

[Anonymous]

Bring back the BobLo boats !!!