Comments on: Transit in Detroit

Transit in Detroit

gregb1007 — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 19:13:42 -0800

Transit in Detroit details an urban planner's initiative to cut the costs of the city's traffic congestion-relieving highway expansion by proposing a transit system combining light rail and bus-rapid-transit. [More Inside]

By: gregb1007

gregb1007 — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 19:18:36 -0800

The main benefit is cost-savings since a rail track would accomodate more riders per mile than a highway lane. However, Kami Pothukuchi, the urban planner interviewed for the article promises other benefits by drawing on the case studies of what a similar project accomplished in Salt Lake City and Denver. According to her, the decision to build transit instead of expanding highways in Salt Like City and Denver has apparently preserved otherwise-to-be-destroyed green space in both cities. Pothukuchi also cites other benefits of transit construction for the two cities such as the reduction of sprawl and the associated public utility costs associated with water and sewage expansion.

By: Sagres

Sagres — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 19:37:45 -0800

"case studies of what a similar project accomplished in Salt Lake City and Denver" After living in Detroit for 20+ years I can say with confidence that Detroit is no Salt Lake or Denver. The current regime is corrupt and the city's tax base falls short of covering basic services like trash removal. Good luck.

By: DonnieSticks

DonnieSticks — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 20:35:27 -0800

This thread looks nothing like Che Guevara.

By: tweak

tweak — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 20:54:00 -0800

It is harder to get mugged in a moving car.

By: Tlogmer

Tlogmer — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 21:02:06 -0800

Good mass transit would be fucking great for detroit. But the detroit metro area is the least dense of any in the U.S., so it wouldn't be as great as it could be. For this and other reasons, it's probably not politically feasable.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:21:19 -0800

Oh, but with good public transit, people wouldn't even have to buy, maintain, and fuel cars! Oh, wait, they make them there...or, they used to.

By: gregb1007

gregb1007 — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:33:26 -0800

Actually, Goofy, no matter how good the transit in Detroit may be, people will still have to have cars. Most American transit systems are only good for trips from suburbs into downtown. All other non downtown directed trips would have done by car, otherwise they would be unbearably time consuming...

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:43:07 -0800

Tlogmer, part of the point of the article is creating a new social contract that emphasizes density. I really think this is a crucial step that hasn't percolated up to the national planning level -- that sprawl is a big part of the horribly unbalanced housing market we have.

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:34:54 -0800

No doubt - Detroit is a classic American city. Why the city can't get it's shit together is beyond me. Good luck with any all public transit ideas - it's certainly the way to go for sustainability.

By: MattD

MattD — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 04:35:10 -0800

I can't think of a place in the country less likely to succeed with major mass transit initiatives than the Detroit metro area. Minimal core-city employment? Check. Minial core-city amenties to support first-wave densification/gentrification? Check. Really cold in the winter? Check. Actual and perceived unsafety of existing mass transit? Check.

By: dagnyscott

dagnyscott — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:39:35 -0800

Well, one main problem with the idea of public transit in Detroit is that everyone keeps wanting to move as far away from the city as possible, and they want to stay as far from the city as possible, too. The people have been fleeing north and west so far that they're to Flint and Ann Arbor.

By: Slothrop

Slothrop — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:50:09 -0800

Believe it or not, the urban planning and architecture schools here at UM had a symposium on mass transit attended by people from Ford Motor Company. The Ford reps felt like mass transit was a good idea, as they have begun to realize that people associate negative feelings with their products if they are constantly stuck in traffic. It's a bit of a "right idea for the wrong reasons" but maybe it's a start. It's certainly a change from Henry Ford's insistence on highway development and resistance to any mass transit. I think one problem with mass transit in Detroit would be where would it go? The major commute is from Washtenaw and Livingston counties west of Detroit to Southfield/Troy/Royal Oak/Auburn Hills. Or from the far north to same.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 08:17:23 -0800

I live 25 miles from Detroit, and the only time I go there is to pass through on my way to Windsor.... Detroit died in the '60's, best to just bury it and start over.....

By: Tlogmer

Tlogmer — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 16:27:35 -0800

Why the city can't get it's shit together is beyond me. This is a sadly common attitude around michigan. Detroit can't get its shit together because it lost its entire tax base to the suburbs while the people who once comprised that base continued to use city infrastructure.

By: QIbHom

QIbHom — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:42:17 -0800

Tlogmer is right. We hire and train cops, who work for a year, then go to a job in the suburbs. We provide the minimum wage workers at your local mall (and they spend 6 hours a day waiting for and on busses to get to those part time, no benefit jobs). Detroit has had consistant weekly trash pickup for at least the last 4 years. But, nevermind that. Yeah, the city is corrupt. But, go look at who donated to both Kwame and Hendrix in the last election. White people from Oakland Co. Come live in the city, and you'll see it isn't being run for the residents.