Detroit's Transit Boondoggle

Posted by: Tim Halbur

12 September 2011 - 8:00am

Bill Johnson says that Detroit would do well to remember 1987's People Mover, which cost 7 times more than projected and has never reached its expected ridership.

Johnson explains that the People Mover was supposed to stimulate growth and development adjacent to the tracks:

"Commuters into downtown would disembark from the light-rail system to be distributed by the elevated train to various businesses, amenities and activities. Conspicuously absent, however, are signs of new retail or substantial business along its route.

City planners continue to believe that the People Mover can complement a larger regional rail system. But it doesn't necessarily follow that a more extensive rail system makes sense."

Full Story: Derail the People Mover

Source: The Michigan View, September 11, 2011