Airport Transit from DTW to Downtown Detroit

**brewcitypunk** · December-22-11, 10:01 AM

i am visiting downtown detroit this weekend. finally got some time off work. i don't drive and my trusty SMART route bus from metro has been eliminated on the days i plan to travel. arrrrrr. any recommended shuttles or taxis? i know the cost involved and how expensive it will be, but i am prepared for that. i just want some feedback on any service that is reliable and convenient. thanks for any responses. can't wait to hit the streets. merry xmas!!!!!!

**casscorridor** · December-22-11, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by brewcitypunk

i am visiting downtown detroit this weekend. finally got some time off work. i don't drive and my trusty SMART route bus from metro has been eliminated on the days i plan to travel. arrrrrr. any recommended shuttles or taxis? i know the cost involved and how expensive it will be, but i am prepared for that. i just want some feedback on any service that is reliable and convenient. thanks for any responses. can't wait to hit the streets. merry xmas!!!!!!

Detroit transit is horrible. Best bet is a Taxi.

**BrushStart** · December-22-11, 01:39 PM

It's really not a bad walk. Only about 22 miles if you use the shoulder of I-94. I'd wear some warm clothes though just in case it starts snowing/raining. Also, watch out for the salt trucks who you must share the shoulder with. A collision would likely be fatal.

**antongast** · December-22-11, 01:44 PM

There's a jetpack store in the McNamara terminal. A lightly used jetpack should run you around six million bucks, and you can return it for store credit when your trip is over.

**EastsideAl** · December-22-11, 02:48 PM

It's completely ridiculous, and yet another mark of the utter transit failure endemic to this area, that there are whole days when you can't catch a bus out of Metro. So, your only way to get into the city is a cab, which will run you an eye-popping $50 or more. Nice for the cab monopoly, awful for travelers and our reputation as a place anyone would ever want to visit.

**401don** · December-22-11, 03:20 PM

It is pretty sad. Toronto has an express bus that takes 20 minutes from the subway station to the airport. It leaves every 10 minutes from 5:30 am to about 2:30 am. Since everyone complained that's not good enough, rail construction will start this spring linking downtown Union Station to the airport.

**DetroitPlanner** · December-22-11, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by brewcitypunk

i am visiting downtown detroit this weekend. finally got some time off work. i don't drive and my trusty SMART route bus from metro has been eliminated on the days i plan to travel. arrrrrr. any recommended shuttles or taxis? i know the cost involved and how expensive it will be, but i am prepared for that. i just want some feedback on any service that is reliable and convenient. thanks for any responses. can't wait to hit the streets. merry xmas!!!!!!

I would suggest contacting a nearby hotel to see if they run shuttles or contract with someone who does. I know those folks are out there, but can't recommend one based on personal experience. I usually just take a cab when I arrive at an odd hour. Costs more, but it gets me home quickly.

**antongast** · December-22-11, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

It's completely ridiculous, and yet another mark of the utter transit failure endemic to this area, that there are whole days when you can't catch a bus out of Metro. So, your only way to get into the city is a cab, which will run you an eye-popping $50 or more. Nice for the cab monopoly, awful for travelers and our reputation as a place anyone would ever want to visit.

You can actually catch a bus out of Metro seven days a week, it just won't take you downtown anymore because SMART cut all its off-peak service into Detroit. You have to ride to Fort and Outer Drive and transfer to the DDOT Fort St. bus. Not that that's a remotely acceptable level of transit service to the airport, but technically it does exist.

**Lowell** · December-22-11, 04:02 PM

Welcome to Detroit and the forum Brewcitypunk. Now get a car. Just kidding of course, but such it the sad state of our mass transit. Hopefully even our most discordant governmental poobahs will realize how much situations like this damage us all.

Maybe then the much talked-about Ann Arbor-DTW-Detroit rail option will finally get built.

**DetroitPlanner** · December-22-11, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Maybe then the much talked-about Ann Arbor-DTW-Detroit rail option will finally get built.

He better plan on travelling on event days [[U of M Football, Lions, Tigers, Greenfield Village Old Car Festivals, Thanksgiving Parade) only until we can secure a regular operating source!

**brewcitypunk** · December-22-11, 04:55 PM

thanks lowell. i used to be a member of this group, but my username got purged somehow when the site was updated. i continued to read almost daily, but i finally was required to register again with my question. thanks for all the responses.

**Detroitnerd** · December-22-11, 05:08 PM

Where's Bham when you need him? He'll tell you that we don't need anything more than cabs. We're fine.

**BrushStart** · December-22-11, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Where's Bham when you need him? He'll tell you that we don't need anything more than cabs. We're fine.

Probably off in his car somewhere, living in denial.

**ghettopalmetto** · December-22-11, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

Probably off in his car somewhere, living in denial.

I hear they have a terrific new "lifestyle center" in Denial.

**Brian1979** · December-23-11, 12:05 AM

I can't believe that anyone would be in denial over mass transit in a city the size of Detroit. This is one of the 20 largest cities in the entire nation and it doesn't even function as a major city. Detroit doesn't have such a thing as transit, the busses don't count and neither does the People Mover.

**Russix** · December-23-11, 07:49 AM

If you plan to arrive/depart on a weekday, you can still catch a bus to/from the airport all the way downtown between 6am-9am and 3pm-pm. Really really really crappy, sorry.

**Carey** · December-23-11, 08:42 AM

I think you can hitchhike to Ann Arbor and catch the Detroit-bound Megabus.

Seriously, this thread says everything that needs to be said about the region's absolute dysfunction. At least we have a nice airport.

**ghettopalmetto** · December-23-11, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Carey

I think you can hitchhike to Ann Arbor and catch the Detroit-bound Megabus.

Seriously, this thread says everything that needs to be said about the region's absolute dysfunction. At least we have a nice airport.

You raise an interesting point. If the Wayne County Airport Authority can raise billions and billions of dollars for new airport terminals and parking garages...

...what's stopping them from funding [[and operating) a semi-regional transit system? One would think that easier access to/from the airport would cement Detroit's importance as a major air hub.

bartock · December-23-11, 09:30 AM

Wow, not a lot of "goodwill" in some of these comments.

**canuck** · December-23-11, 10:00 AM

Well, DTW just got a nice review in the LA Times. Apparently, after testing by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Detroit International is still number1 for food quality.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/voyage/tru...-la-bouffe.php

**jcole** · December-23-11, 10:18 AM

Try this. Is may not be the rail transport that everyone wants, but I don't see that having been built by this weekend regardless. You may have had a couple years wait before it opened for business.

Metro Cars - Luxury Sedan Service
www.metrocars.com
Phone: [[800) 456-1701

**Bham1982** · December-23-11, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Where's Bham when you need him? He'll tell you that we don't need anything more than cabs. We're fine.

You know I never wrote that. Please don't twist my comments.

Do I think investing billions in airport rail to downtown makes sense for Metro Detroit. Heck, no, and for a multitude of reasons.

But I certainly support frequent and reliable public transit to the airport.

I also think that the airport van/car service monopoly needs to be broken up. That would go far towards lowering prices and increasing options.

**Bham1982** · December-23-11, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

You raise an interesting point. If the Wayne County Airport Authority can raise billions and billions of dollars for new airport terminals and parking garages...

...what's stopping them from funding [[and operating) a semi-regional transit system? One would think that easier access to/from the airport would cement Detroit's importance as a major air hub.

The billions spent at the airport are courtesy of the airlines, not Wayne County.

The airport authority has the power to force airlines to pay for airport improvements. They do not, however, have the power to force airlines to pay for non-airport improvements. There is no judge that will allow Wayne County to direct airline dollars outside the airport.

**j to the jeremy** · December-23-11, 12:44 PM

So sad...I'm heading to the first real city that gives me a job after my girlfriend graduates...never thought i'd say it but this place is officially a joke. Provincial is an understatement. I'm sure Europeans reading the first post of this thread would be torn between laughter and shock

**Detroitnerd** · December-23-11, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Even in cities with excellent public transit, business travelers will almost never use transit from the airport to their destination. Their companies are paying for door-to-door taxis or car services, so there's no point.

Yes, airport-to-downtown transit is helpful for leisure travelers, but Detroit isn't a major leisure destination, and isn't likely to be regardless of what transpires in our lifetimes.

So it would be nice to have airport-to-downtown rail, but it's hardly a major transit priority, especially in such a decentralized region.

Har-de-har-har.