Federal Funding [[$25 million) for M-1 Light Rail

[Spartan]

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is expected to visit Detroit on Jan. 18 to announce around $25 million in federal funding for Detroit's light-rail streetcar project.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article

[AUSSIE]

Bit like the rail they want to put between Melbourne and its International Airport

TOTAL WASTE OF TAX MONEY!

Melbourne has miles and miles of trams[trolley] light-rail, they are rubbish

This it? : http://www.m-1rail.com/

Who will be using this, why cannot a $10's millions cheaper bus do the job, its only 3.4 miles, spend the 25 million on law enforcement.

Cheers

[DetroitPlanner]

Bit like the rail they want to put between Melbourne and its International Airport

TOTAL WASTE OF TAX MONEY!

Melbourne has miles and miles of trams[trolley] light-rail, they are rubbish

This it? : http://www.m-1rail.com/

Who will be using this, why cannot a $10's millions cheaper bus do the job, its only 3.4 miles, spend the 25 million on law enforcement.

Cheers

LOL... Be prepared for the wrath of the pro-rail screw everything else contingent!

[Richard]

And first up is.....

Anyways it was part of the Tiger but fed monies go towards a regional effort and until a RTA was formed it was not considered a regional effort,now it can be classified as the first leg of a regional effort.


Maybe now run a line up EGB to downtown Hamtramck through the future woodlands and transfer at Woodward to go downtown.

Because Melbourne has rubbish in your opinion is does not automatically establish everything else is rubbish,lots of people enjoy mass transit rail everyday.

How do you come to the conclusion that Melbourne transit is rubbish? Does it rub you in the wrong way or its old or its people peddle powered?

[Shollin]

If We're going to do rail transit, I'd rather do something like a subway or EL. I just don't see how a streetcar running in traffic is going to be efficient? The BRT in Cleveland is a nice system at half the cost and is also flexible. In the end if Detroit doesn't tax the federal funds, someone else will so might as well use it.

[DetroitPlanner]

In the end if Detroit doesn't tax the federal funds, someone else will so might as well use it.

Say what? Tax Federal Funds?

[Honky Tonk]

If We're going to do rail transit, I'd rather do something like a subway or EL. I just don't see how a streetcar running in traffic is going to be efficient? The BRT in Cleveland is a nice system at half the cost and is also flexible. In the end if Detroit doesn't tax the federal funds, someone else will so might as well use it.

That's the part I don't understand. I keep reading "how much faster it is", but if Woodward's congested, how does the light rail get past all that? Don't they plan on stopping for lights?

[Shollin]

Say what? Tax Federal Funds?

Take. I figured the context of the sentence would've led to that. Oh well.

[Shollin]

That's the part I don't understand. I keep reading "how much faster it is", but if Woodward's congested, how does the light rail get past all that? Don't they plan on stopping for lights?

With the BRT in Cleveland, there is a GPS on the bus that changes the street lights and gives the bus the right of way at intersections. I would assume the rail would work the same way.

[Honky Tonk]

With the BRT in Cleveland, there is a GPS on the bus that changes the street lights and gives the bus the right of way at intersections. I would assume the rail would work the same way.

Ok, but I've been in some horrific traffic jams on Woodward, for instance when an afternoon Tiger game let's out @ 4 p.m. Cross traffic doesn't quite make it all the way through the intersection, and you're sitting there watching lights change, because the intersection's blocked. Maybe add a cowcatcher on the front?

[dtowncitylover]

Melbourne has miles and miles of trams[trolley] light-rail, they are rubbish

But is anyone saying they should tear down the largest network of streetcar and light rail lines in the world? Probably not. Maybe you guys should find a way of fixing it if it indeed does need fixing.

You also privatized it, I bet that worked out real well...

[AUSSIE]

Richard;

How do you come to the conclusion that Melbourne transit is rubbish? Does it rub you in the wrong way or its old or its people peddle powered?

Melbourne has a population of 4.1 million, yes we need public transport, but the one we currently run is for the 70's when the population was ~ half, its run by people that live in a ivory tower.

Its expensive, slow, unreliable, break downs, & dirty

I HATE TRAMS, trams block the roads for cars and slow things down badly.

Bus works, trains work.

We spent 100's $millions on bike tracks, and these gay lycra wearing showboats, DONT USE THEM, they ride on the road causing all sorts of issue and accidents, they think they are above the law

Latest scam is another near 2 $BILLION wasted on automated ticket machine system : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myki

"The Baillieu government initially considered scrapping myki, but opted to keep the troubled system with modifications after a review by accounting firm Deloitte found abandoning it would cost the state $1 billion."

And you think Detroit is run by a bunch on monkeys.....I think we have the most incompetent and wasteful Governement on the planet!

Cheers

[Hypestyles]

detroit won't be thriving until rail transit options here are expanded 1000%..

[AUSSIE]

Yes, trams are EVERYWHERE, like a rash!

THE biggest problem is the tram sits in the middle of the road and the cars cannot get past it till they out drag it at a red traffic light.

Then the tram stops every 500m to load unload passengers, so it ends up taking a L O N G time to drive down a road

I would rather bus service, or trams next to the sidewalk, that wont happen though.

I just bypass tram roads as best as possible, i dont need the brain damage!

U done your research! The GovCo sold it all off to private enterprise, the end users get the raw deal, poor service and a top dollar price loss x loss!

Cheers

[AUSSIE]

detroit won't be thriving until rail transit options here are expanded 1000%..

Detroit's biggest problem, in my eyes, is lack of and/or shrinking population, till they tackle crime and get people to stay or move there from other places, the place will keep sinking.

What has Texas got, that seems to be a booming state and people want to move there? [Free beer? ]

Cheers

[dtowncitylover]

What has Texas got, that seems to be a booming state and people want to move there? [Free beer? ]

Cheers

Oil & gas, technology, low taxes, and warmer weather.

And both Houston and Dallas have light rail lines...

[Spartan]

detroit won't be thriving until rail transit options here are expanded 1000%..

Agreed, but there needs to be a reason to use the transit before transit is useful. It seems that lately with the recent development and added jobs downtown, we might be starting to get to that point. This is the next step.

[downtownguy]

The photo in that Detroit News article shows the streetcar running down the median. Didn't the major funders go against most expert advice and choose to run it along the curb instead?

[Tig3rzhark]

You run that train on a curb, and u'll have to eliminate curbside parking on Woodward, as well as find an alternative for bikes to ride down that street or re-route them elsewhere. Although we have some parking garages along the line, I'm pretty sure that there will be a need for more in the future.

M-1 may be a foundation for light rail here in metro Detroit, but anyone that rides either the DDOT Woodward, or the SMART Woodward, knows that that those buses fill up quickly. I can testify to this, considering I live in Detroit and use both bus systems.

If you don't give that train a dedicated lane, it will run no faster than the local Woodward. That bus really runs slow, and I'm not sure anyone here would want to be on a full bus too long for rush-hour.

Eventually that train, in order to get people anywhere, will have to run to other areas, like up to Pontiac, since most people who work go out to the suburbs.

If there's a refusal to expand on this train, you can at least expand it to 8 mile, so we could still take the bus to other areas in Oakland/Macomb county, since most SMART buses won't go pass the State Fairgrounds.

Speaking of that place, even though there's a Meijers being built there, I think there's plenty of room for parking. There needs to be express service from Downtown to the fairgrounds at least, since there is a lot of objections to expanding a train further into the suburbs.

If we're going to do this, we need to do it right the first time. We screwed up one time too many.

[ghettopalmetto]

With the BRT in Cleveland, there is a GPS on the bus that changes the street lights and gives the bus the right of way at intersections. I would assume the rail would work the same way.

Except they don't. I've witnessed plenty of those so-called "rapid" buses sitting at lights, waiting for them to change. The Euclid Avenue Bus "Rapid" Transit is marginally faster than the #6 route it replaced...primarily because there are fewer stops. Not bad for $250 million, huh?

First you say you want a subway or el. Then you say you want "bus rapid transit". Which is it? I think you're confused.

[Honky Tonk]

Oil & gas, technology, low taxes, and warmer weather.

And both Houston and Dallas have light rail lines...

Just out of curiosity, can you shovel your sidewalk in Houston or Dallas without getting raped @ gunpoint?

[Knightmessenger]

Some of the drawings I've seen of putting the rail at each side of the street show a lane in between for parking. That sounds like a terrible idea. Please tell me that if they are indeed going to build it next to the curb, it will be next to the curb.

[dmike76]

Honky Tonk, you probably can't.

[Honky Tonk]

Honky Tonk, you probably can't.

My smart-ass point is, light rail a City does not make, and, it's more than fun in the sun that people are continuing to move out of Detroit. I feel there are some serious basic problems that the money might be better spent on. To me, this venture looks more like fluff then anything else.

[ghettopalmetto]

My smart-ass point is, light rail a City does not make.

But it is difficult to have a city without rail transit.