Bike racks come in all shapes and sizes. Many cities have contests where artists design the racks.
http://bicycledesign.net/wp-content/...-bike-rack.jpg
They help transit riders because over 80% of DDOT and 100% of SMART buses have racks on the buses now, so having convenient bike parking near bus stops gives people more flexibility. If you need to ride the bus, and you live farther than walking distance to a bus stop, you didn't have many options in Detroit until a couple years ago.
This just fits into Detroit's plan to become much more bike friendly, as they're adding miles of bike lanes this summer.
http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2012/04/1...re-bike-lanes/