Quote Originally Posted by Flintoid View Post
... but we also have a budget and a need to solve this regional transit issue here and now. ...So far BRT is the only solution to REGIONAL transit that has been presented. I would happily accept BRT in a minute if construction can start soon. I really dont give a damn if i'm riding a fancy bus or a fancy train, as long as a I dont have to use my car and it gets me from Pt. A to Pt. B quickly and efficiently. BRT is the only system that has been presented that could get me from not only Hart Plaza to Ferndale but also downtown to the Airport or downtown to Mt. Clemens or Midtown to mid-Oakland County. As pretty and successful as LRT is, we do not have the budget or regional support for it. We have regional support for BRT. Let's run with it and actually solve our regional transit crisis once and for all.
I have to agree here. I'm glad that LRT is still in the works for Woodward, and I'm glad that BRT is being developed for other lines. I'm not so sure that Hall Road is the right route, but if that gets Macomb County on board, then great. By the way, the big light rail study done by URS a couple of years ago indicated that Gratiot was not a candidate for LRT at all because of the huge costs in infrastructure changes it would require: too many bridges, underpasses, and buried streams. And, at least in the short run, something like BRT will shuttle airport passengers from the train station at Michigan and Merriman/Henry Ruff Rd. to the airport. The plans do not call for a rail spur to the actual airport, unless there were changes I didn't hear about.