People Mover steps up advertising presence
By: Laura Berman
The recorded, on-board voice of the People Mover — his name is Duane — will soon be announcing the renamed "MetroPCS Greektown Station."
In one of those moves that pundits would have once automatically denounced as blatant commercialism destructive to the image of a great city, the station formerly known as Greektown will be wrapped inside and, partially, outside in logo-wear for the cellular phone company. The color purple is likely to play a large, and likely garish, role.
But in Detroit's current environment, blatant commercialism is vaguely refreshing.
Consider the facts: MetroPCS signed a one-year, $10,000-a-month contract to dress up the station and name it. That's $120,000 a year in real money that can offset the very real costs of keeping the trains running every three minutes from 6 a.m. to midnight, in what has been a money-losing, occasionally ridiculed circuit since its inception 24 years ago this July.
As the only working sliver of Metro Detroit's otherwise imaginary mass transportation system, the People Mover keeps chugging along, subsidized by rider fees, state and federal subsidies and the city's contribution of $1.2 million a year.
