They are doing it all wrong in Metro Detroit...
After Detroit filled its borders, the suburbs exploded without a master plan. Small farm towns were swallowed up by the raging sprawl like a wave crashing downstream after a burst dam. Many so called towns in the metro area don't even have a downtown, not like the way most of us imagine one looking. With the birth of the mall and it's step child, the strip mall, mass transit was doomed. People could park their cars with ease and walk to the store while those who took the bus had to wander across the endless ocean of blacktop with its seasonal hazards. Unless they change their building practices and start putting the businesses along the roads and the parking lots in the back, public transportation will never look attractive to Metro Detroiters. We want convenient shopping, dining and entertainment.
In the incredibly shrinking city of Detroit, there is talk of a light rail system. Currently the plan calls for new tracks from down town to the abandoned State Fair Grounds to replace the ones that were removed over 60 years ago. Personally I don't see this being any better than the current bus system and would be far more costly to operate. They are calling for 12 stations along Woodward. This would motivate the city to build a massive parking garage where the Fair Grounds sit. Light rail should be used to relieve the clogged arteries of highways in Detroit, not reduce the lanes on main roads. The proposed light rail down Woodward would only cause further traffic problems unless it was elevated which would be way too expensive. There simply isn’t enough population living along that stretch of Woodward to support the operation costs. Our first step should be commuter rail from Pontiac to Ann Arbor to quickly move people through the main artery of the city along existing tracks. There is no reason to have Amtrak within the city limits. If the region turned that route into a commuter rail similar to the Metro system in Washington D.C., I believe they would see more riders and would help eliminate congested roads and parking lots. It is a headache and hurts downtown businesses when people can't find a place to park. If northern residents collected in Pontiac, which would help that dying city, they could take the metro to destinations such as Birmingham, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Hamtramck, Russell Industrial, New Center, Dearborn, Detroit Metro Airport and Ann Arbor. The state should be concentrating on this step first. When riders arrive in mass at New Center, demand for light rail or a fast bus system to downtown would arise. SEMCOG has been studying a route between Ann Arbor and Detroit and how a commuter train could share the rails with express trains and normal cargo. This project has been put on ice. Back in 2000 there was also talk of a commuter train between East Lansing, Ann Arbor and Dearborn that never went beyond talk either.
This system would complement the bus system, allowing more frequent and shorter bus routes. By using existing tracks and keeping the train off the main roads, people will be able to travel around faster than if they had to stop at every stop light up and down Woodward. New parking lots would not dot the horizon of the main road but be closer to the tracks where there is more room to build in former industrial areas. The price of gas will go up. We will be caught with our pants down when the price of gas goes up to $5, $6 or more per gallon. The economy will really stall when people stop driving as much. According to Chris Steiner, Americans drove 100 billion less miles in 2008 when gas hit $4 nationwide. http://chrissteiner.com/?p=407 I like what he says about the years to come: "there will be such innovation, the likes not seen since WWII, when gas reaches $6 a gallon".
Eventually we may see a metro rail running along Groesbeck and between Mound and Van Dyke. This could ease the burden on the bus system by letting them concentrate on east and west. We are still a long ways off but I think there could be a future to this if we start rethinking the way we build here in the metro area.
After Detroit filled its borders, the suburbs exploded without a master plan. Small farm towns were swallowed up by the raging sprawl like a wave crashing downstream after a burst dam. Many so called towns in the metro area don't even have a downtown, not like the way most of us imagine one looking. With the birth of the mall and it's step child, the strip mall, mass transit was doomed. People could park their cars with ease and walk to the store while those who took the bus had to wander across the endless ocean of blacktop with its seasonal hazards. Unless they change their building practices and start putting the businesses along the roads and the parking lots in the back, public transportation will never look attractive to Metro Detroiters. We want convenient shopping, dining and entertainment.
In the incredibly shrinking city of Detroit, there is talk of a light rail system. Currently the plan calls for new tracks from down town to the abandoned State Fair Grounds to replace the ones that were removed over 60 years ago. Personally I don't see this being any better than the current bus system and would be far more costly to operate. They are calling for 12 stations along Woodward. This would motivate the city to build a massive parking garage where the Fair Grounds sit. Light rail should be used to relieve the clogged arteries of highways in Detroit, not reduce the lanes on main roads. The proposed light rail down Woodward would only cause further traffic problems unless it was elevated which would be way too expensive. There simply isn’t enough population living along that stretch of Woodward to support the operation costs. Our first step should be commuter rail from Pontiac to Ann Arbor to quickly move people through the main artery of the city along existing tracks. There is no reason to have Amtrak within the city limits. If the region turned that route into a commuter rail similar to the Metro system in Washington D.C., I believe they would see more riders and would help eliminate congested roads and parking lots. It is a headache and hurts downtown businesses when people can't find a place to park. If northern residents collected in Pontiac, which would help that dying city, they could take the metro to destinations such as Birmingham, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Hamtramck, Russell Industrial, New Center, Dearborn, Detroit Metro Airport and Ann Arbor. The state should be concentrating on this step first. When riders arrive in mass at New Center, demand for light rail or a fast bus system to downtown would arise. SEMCOG has been studying a route between Ann Arbor and Detroit and how a commuter train could share the rails with express trains and normal cargo. This project has been put on ice. Back in 2000 there was also talk of a commuter train between East Lansing, Ann Arbor and Dearborn that never went beyond talk either.
This system would complement the bus system, allowing more frequent and shorter bus routes. By using existing tracks and keeping the train off the main roads, people will be able to travel around faster than if they had to stop at every stop light up and down Woodward. New parking lots would not dot the horizon of the main road but be closer to the tracks where there is more room to build in former industrial areas. The price of gas will go up. We will be caught with our pants down when the price of gas goes up to $5, $6 or more per gallon. The economy will really stall when people stop driving as much. According to Chris Steiner, Americans drove 100 billion less miles in 2008 when gas hit $4 nationwide. http://chrissteiner.com/?p=407 I like what he says about the years to come: "there will be such innovation, the likes not seen since WWII, when gas reaches $6 a gallon".
Eventually we may see a metro rail running along Groesbeck and between Mound and Van Dyke. This could ease the burden on the bus system by letting them concentrate on east and west. We are still a long ways off but I think there could be a future to this if we start rethinking the way we build here in the metro area.
This is the current map of all rail lines in Detroit and surrounding. The Woodward corridor would be perfect as the tracks are already in place and not too far away from the main road. Parking lots could be built in former industrial areas to avoid having to build garish parking lots where retail should be.
