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Old Posted Sep 26, 2008, 5:34 AM
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Detroit & Michigan: Go-Town Transportation Lowdown

Thinks are really starting to take off...



Regional bus, rail proposal unveiled

Tanveer Ali / The Detroit News

September 25, 2008

DEARBORN -- An ambitious plan to develop a mass transit system for the nation's automotive capital -- featuring both light rail and a high-tech bus system -- was unveiled to the public Wednesday.

Commissioned by Detroit and Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties, Detroit Regional Mass Transit is proposing hundreds of miles of infrastructure, dedicating lanes to hybrid buses, light rail lines and commuter trains along Metro Detroit's major streets over the next few decades.

The grand plan is yet to have a price tag. John Hertel, chief executive for the transit group, said the network would be built in phases, with changes based on the public's needs.

Initially, hybrid bus routes would be established along the major roads, including connecting downtown Detroit with Detroit Metropolitan Airport via Michigan Avenue, with M-59 via Gratiot, and with Pontiac via Woodward. The plan also proposes to immediately increase the frequency among existing bus lines and improve the roadway.

The transit plan would then connect proposals already in the works, including the $371 million, 8-mile-long Woodward Avenue Light Rail Transit already approved by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, with an estimated construction date of 2011.

A separate privately funded-plan along a 3.4-mile stretch of Woodward in downtown Detroit is making headway under Hertel's leadership, with likely backing from major business leaders such as Mike Ilitch and Peter Karmanos. A commuter line over track used by Amtrak would connect Ann Arbor with Detroit's New Center, with a potential trial run beginning in 2010.


"With anything about mass transit in the Detroit area, given over 50 years of failure, we don't know how successful we are going to be," Hertel said. "We build on the basis of reality of the ridership's needs."

Leaders say mass transit is critical to boosting the region -- especially Detroit, where an estimated one in three Detroiters is in poverty, according to Census Bureau figures released last month. Many residents can't afford cars and auto insurance, making it difficult to get to jobs outside the immediate area.

Detroit, which eliminated street cars in favor of buses in 1956, is the only major U.S. city without a rapid transit system, according to Transportation Riders United, a local grassroots group.

The proposal drew largely positive responses at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where the public was invited to attended the first of four open houses to detail the plans and gauge feedback.

By 2015, the group hopes to extend the Woodward LRT to southern Oakland County and develop a Bus Rapid Transit, bus routes with dedicated lanes to emulate rail travel, route along Gratiot and M-59.

Future development would be based on rider input, potentially expanding onto other streets and adding more buses or light rail routes.

"It's a great plan, providing both a balance of the bus improvements that are needed to be made right away while bringing in rapid transit," said Megan Owens, director of the Transportation Riders United. "The funding details will definitely need to be developed."

Estimated costs will likely be available once a final report is submitted to the heads of the four governments for approval by year-end.

Capital funding for any network would come through federal funding matched at the local level, potentially with an additional tax.

However, there is no guarantee federal funding would be approved and no plan is in place for matching local contributions required to pay for the system.

Nathan Phenicie, 23, of Clawson, attended Wednesday's open house and said whatever costs the plan would bring to the area would be offset by economic benefits.

"I do a lot of driving in the area. I know where the traffic is," Phenicie said "I've been building in my mind the idea of streetcars in Detroit since I was a kid."

You can reach Tanveer Ali at (734) 462-2094.
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