Detroit's Dramatic New Transit Center

Posted by: Tim Halbur

1 January 2010 - 9:00am

Architect Tushar Advani has designed an iconic new bus station for Detroit, a mandate from transportation planners looking for a symbol of progress for the ailing city.

Kristin Palm talked to the architect about his design and the collaboration with transit planners. The design involves a tensile, canopied roof reminiscent of Denver's airport.

"I wanted the main space to feel like you were outside in a public square, with lots of natural light and a lot of openness," Advani says. The architect kept surfaces raw and unfinished, an aesthetic he prefers and that helped him stay within a tight $22.5 million budget. "We did a lot of things that, hopefully, you don’t see as cost-efficiencies, but they genuinely are," he says.

Full Story: A Symbol of Progress

Source: Metropolis Magazine, December 31, 2009

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Busses are still Useful

Submitted by gelenbaas on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 02:26.

@Jon - While light rail definitely improves public transportation's image and increases a system's ridership among wealthier individuals, the majority of bus lines in most American cities (including Detroit), do not have the necessary density, or the room, for light rail replacement. While luring higher income individuals to the area may be an important goal, it is also important to take care of those who already reside within a city's boundaries. With an unemployment rate that is greater than 25%, criticizing Detroit for providing a bus terminus instead of a rail station for a city already strapped for funds is disrespectful of the city's situation. I disagree with your opinion in regards to the design of the station and feel that the sail element is grand, inviting, and functional. San Francisco has a central hub for buses that is used frequently by persons where rail is unavailable or not as fast due to its access being preempted by multiple bus-transfers from suburban areas to urban corridors with rail connections. While San Francisco's bus terminus has fallen to disrepair it is currently under proposal to be redeveloped, and like San Francisco, Detroit's greater metropolitan area commuters will surely enjoy being dropped off at a modern and sleek station. Buses are definitely not out of the future of mass transit either. Bus rapid transit will continue to be an important part of transportation planning as successes like the Silver Line in Los Angeles continue to be developed.

Detroit Bus Station

Submitted by Charles Siegel on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 13:12.

I don't see anything at all in Jon's comment "criticizing Detroit for providing a bus terminus instead of a rail station." He is just criticizing the quality of the bus station they are providing.

The esthetic merit of Detroit's sail design might be a matter of taste. But it is a fact that the tent just is a roof above the bus station and does not enclose it, and it seems very clear that people are going to get very cold waiting for the bus out there during the Detroit winter.

There is no comparison with what is being done in San Francisco. Even the 1930s bus station that is being torn down in SF is fully enclosed and seems much more comfortable than the new station in Detroit.

Charles Siegel

detroit

Submitted by Jon on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 00:21.

i'm not criticizing buses in detroit, i'm criticizing the terminal design and the reasoning for a single hub downtown.

detroit

Submitted by Jon on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 22:11.

just what transit needs in detroit... the temporary look of a tent structure with "raw and unfinished" surfaces (read: barebones). nothing could summarize better a chronically under funded and looked-down-upon rust belt bus system that doesnt know whether it will still be around in a few years.

why would a large city like detroit (even despite its diminished size) use a central hub for buses? this is a model for minor transit systems serving small cities under 100,000 not regions of several million people.