You're completely right that the QLine should not be part of the discussion for connections that far out. Commuter rail - absolutely. If I were king of the universe, I'd favor a Chicago Metra-style frequent commuter rail service on routes like downtown-Pontiac, downtown-Ann Arbor, and downtown-Mt. Clemens. Trains every 20 minutes at rush and at least once an hour all day. Let any rapid transit keep to more manageable distances and terminate in the inner suburbs. Let streetcars serve the area inside Grand Boulevard.
But of course that's just wishful thinking. Best we can probably hope for in the next decade or two is what the RTA proposed: about 8 trains per day on those routes, and thus a service that's better than nothing but otherwise pretty much useless to anyone who's not commuting to a 9 to 5.
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