Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
I think both the Woodward LRT and the commuter rail are a waste of money and look more like political ribbon cutting ceremonies than sound public transit policy.
When the system can't even run the old buses they have now, it has no money for rail.
A far more affordable and flexible alternative idea for Woodward would be a Cleveland style Healthline BRT. It provides LRT service at a fraction of the cost and it has done wonders for Euclid Ave. It has created huge amounts of TOD development and transit usuage along the corridor has doubled on what was already the city's busiest bus route.
The Healthline is proof positive thet TOD and LRT ridership levels are a reality with BRT despite what the LRT lobby says.
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I believe this is posted on the front page, but here is the SEMCOG's Regional Transit Coordinating Council's (RTCC) plan for the transit in the region adopted in December 2008:
Comprehensive Regional Transit Service Plan
As you can see, what you decribed is almost nearly exactly the plan for the region. In fact, Woodward LRT was the
only LRT line they have planned, and the SEMCOG commuter line is the
only commuter rail they have planned (WALLY is something seperate and not a part of SEMCOG's plan). Everything else is either BRT or ART (souped up buses). And, reading through this thread, I'm sure you know that the powers that be blatantly dropped Woodward LRT. The only LRT being proposed for Woodward, at the moment, is a privately developed and funded 3 mile streetcar. It is now the official position of the goveror and Detroit's mayor to scrap what even little LRT was proposed for BRT.
I disagree with them unilaterally throwing the RTCC's years-long work out the window, and you'll never be able to convince me a metropolitan area of 4.2 million -- and an urbanized area with greater population density than many sprawled urban areas with multiple light, rapid, and commuter transit lines -- couldn't feasibly support a couple of LRT lines
at least, but perhaps you should have read back through this thread, first.