Quote:
Originally Posted by GlassCity
Yep, just a terrible fad to market the city as urban and modern without actually helping anything and spending a lot more money. The streetcar/light rail boom will be taught similarly to the freeway boom in future transportation classes.
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light rail≠streetcar
Most recently constructed light rail systems (e.g. Phoenix and Seattle) have outperformed ridership expectations and continue to experience growing usage. These lines operate over longer distances than streetcars, have their own rights of way, and link cities with suburbs.
The results are less promising with streetcars operating over short distances in mixed traffic. Detroit's Q Line is one of those. If Detroit had been able to muster enough regional cooperation and funding to build a true light rail line -- perhaps an L-shaped route from Oakland County down Woodward into Downtown Detroit and then heading west through Dearborn to the airport in Romulus -- that would be a whole different scenario. The Q Line, however, seems like rail for the sake of rail, more linked to economic development dreams than actual mobility.