Mass-transit plan may be delayed b/c of Detroit

[BShea]

Do you seriously think DDOT is just going to be handed New Starts money, even with M1 Rail on board?

If so, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

The New Starts process is fiercely competitive, with NY City sometimes getting as much of 40% of all the grant money.

There are zero guarantees of ever getting New Starts money, and projects often have to apply several times. Detroit will be starting off at zero.

It could be years, decades or never before that money comes. So, it's understandable why a private venture committing its own money might be hesitant to completely get on board with something that may never happen. Logic says they need to make sure their project will happen, and not get anchored to something that is dependent on the whims of bureaucrats in Washington. That was the point of M1 Rail in the first place - the private sector doing what the government cannot, especially a nearly bankrupt city gripped by scandal and rolls of political red tape by the case.

Perhaps Michigan's delegation in Congress has the sway to get DTOG priority consideration for New Starts money. Maybe. And if we had ham, we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs.

And based on what I'm reading today, the city is nearly out of cash. DTOG happens ONLY because M1 Rail exists, and because of stimulus money. In other words, the city is putting up exactly as many local dollars as it has unicorns - zero. Questions remains about M1 Rail, which I've been reporting on, but a lot more existential questions are out there about DTOG. I have questions about whether DTOG exists anywhere but on paper and in imaginations. It's easy to create projects with other people's money, but a helluva lot harder to make them a reality.

[Danny]

Our Detroit leaders are still talking and slothing. Most of them are too corrupt! Detroit need NEW LEADERSHIP not leftovers in order to have a new mass transit plan to go forward.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

For Neda Soltani

[dcmorrison12]

I am optimistic that Detroit will get the New Starts program - especially since the New Starts program is being infused with more money from the stimulus funds. This will make it easier for cities to qualify for money, since there's more to go around.

Plus, this project, in my opinion, stands out from the rest and can garner more interest. It was voted one of most exciting rail projects in one of the train magazines [[forgot the title).

Either way, the M1 Rail has a higher level of failure it it's built on it's own. It has no way to becoming a regional/commuter system - there's no way it can effectively stretch out into the suburbs. Frankly, both projects need one another - and the Private project has taken next to zero public input - which makes me pull even harder for the DDOT plan since they have my best interest in their concerns.

[rb336]

nothing at all for MI in the New Starts FY 2010:

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/Table_1_for_Web.xls

[Cooper]

Questions remains about M1 Rail, which I've been reporting on, but a lot more existential questions are out there about DTOG. I have questions about whether DTOG exists anywhere but on paper and in imaginations. It's easy to create projects with other people's money, but a helluva lot harder to make them a reality.

I've heard doubts about DTOGS viability from someone in the know, but no good explanation as to why so many are treating it as dead on arrival. Yes, mass transit is expensive and New Starts money is competitive, but you have to apply to have a chance, no?

Even if DTOGS doesn't ultimately succeed, the M1 project should still be bending over backward to ensure that the line can be easily linked to the next proposal with a chance. The light rail will only be as strong as the connections it makes. Look at the People Mover to see what an isolated transit system is worth. M1 is a huge step up from that, but if we're not committed as a region to expanding it, it will never fulfill its potential.