QLine going public

**Tig3rzhark** · May-03-17, 05:52 PM

I can't wait.

After all of the construction,legislation, and testing, this streetcar is finally going to be available to the public this month.

The fare's reasonable, hopefully it will allow you to transfer to and from DDOT and SMART. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I hope things go well enough to deserve an extension. Because it's going to need it. It's understandable that it was a public-private partnership, hence the name "QLine".

The difference between this and BRT is that BRT can easily be removed at anytime. I highly doubt that with the potential for the QLine to extend all the way to Pontiac that people would disagree for it to be expanded to Pontiac.

I believe that the trip would be much more faster between Detroit and Pontiac than it would be on a SMART Express bus. It would save SMART the trouble of having a Woodward express bus. And it would also would be good that should the RTA proposal be placed on the ballot in 2018 and pass, that it could find a way to provide transit police for the QLine and provide 24 hour service.

Please provide more thoughts on the issue. And share your experiences when you first get on the QLine this month.

**Scottathew** · May-03-17, 05:56 PM

Very exciting! During my lunch I've been biking and walking the Q-Line route in anticipation.

I really hope that it gets extended to Pontiac and also becomes grade-separated outside of densely populated areas, in hopes that it can become MORE desirable than cars to get between the city and suburbs.

**EastsideAl** · May-04-17, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by 48307

Very exciting! During my lunch I've been biking and walking the Q-Line route in anticipation.

I really hope that it gets extended to Pontiac and also becomes grade-separated outside of densely populated areas, in hopes that it can become MORE desirable than cars to get between the city and suburbs.

Of course, we already had a perfectly good, mostly grade-separated, rail line that went directly from downtown to Pontiac with a limited number of useful stops that was in regular use until relatively recently. Hey, whatever happened to that line?

**ndavies** · May-04-17, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Of course, we already had a perfectly good, mostly grade-separated, rail line that went directly from downtown to Pontiac with a limited number of useful stops that was in regular use until relatively recently. Hey, whatever happened to that line?

They paved it over for the dequindre cut bike path. [[at least the southern end of it.)

**EastsideAl** · May-08-17, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by ndavies

They paved it over for the dequindre cut bike path. [[at least the southern end of it.)

Exactly. And, nice as the Dequindre cut bike path is, I thought at the time they built it, and still think now, that it was a pretty short-sighted decision to remove the rail line. Of course, a bike path is a hell of a lot better than the Archer-era notion to make it into an expressway to a riverfront casino zone.

Originally Posted by professorscott

Relatively recently? Hey, Al, you must be my age

I believe passenger service on that line ended in 1983.

OK, yeah, I'm old. But I do remember riding that train from the Ren Cen to Royal Oak and Birmingham and back again as a young adult. It was still running, and I knew people who commuted on it, when I worked downtown after graduating from MSU, and the tracks were still in use for years after the end of passenger service. So, it is well within living memory. Unlike Detroit's old streetcar system, which is now slipping into the mists of black and white photographed history.

**jackie5275** · May-08-17, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

OK, yeah, I'm old. But I do remember riding that train from the Ren Cen to Royal Oak and Birmingham and back again as a young adult. It was still running, and I knew people who commuted on it, when I worked downtown after graduating from MSU, and the tracks were still in use for years after the end of passenger service. So, it is well within living memory. Unlike Detroit's old streetcar system, which is now slipping into the mists of black and white photographed history.

As I remember it, it was an Amtrak commuter train that ran from Pontiac, right across Woodward from the Phoenix Center, with stops in Birmingham & Royal Oak, down to where it stopped near the RenCen as Al has said. I remember it because we used to take it to the fireworks downtown when I was a kid growing up in the Pontiac area in the 70s. I think it stopped service before 1983 because we started driving to the fireworks in early 80s.

**professorscott** · May-04-17, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Of course, we already had a perfectly good, mostly grade-separated, rail line that went directly from downtown to Pontiac with a limited number of useful stops that was in regular use until relatively recently. Hey, whatever happened to that line?

Relatively recently? Hey, Al, you must be my age

I believe passenger service on that line ended in 1983.

**eastland** · May-07-17, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by professorscott

Relatively recently? Hey, Al, you must be my age

I believe passenger service on that line ended in 1983.

My old boss was on the board of SEMTA at the time. He said ridership was dominated by rich lawyers from Birmingham and required huge [[even by transit standards) subsidies.

**Bigdd** · May-03-17, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by Tig3rzhark

I believe that the trip would be much more faster between Detroit and Pontiac than it would be on a SMART Express bus. It would save SMART the trouble of having a Woodward express bus.

Light rail lines are nearly as fast as a car when they have their own track,.. fenced off from everything else.

But when they share the road with other traffic.,,... and have lots of stops like buses,.. they can be even slower than the bus, as they can't drive around traffic.

I too hope it's a success,.. unlike Dallas and other places that overestimated ridership by 3-4 times and only end up building a tiny fraction of the proposed routes.

**dtowncitylover** · May-03-17, 06:33 PM

Oh boy, another transit thread...

**Scottathew** · May-03-17, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

Oh boy, another transit thread...

LOL, that's the same way I feel about sports threads.

**emu steve** · May-03-17, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by 48307

LOL, that's the same way I feel about sports threads.

The QLine will help fans get to LCA, home of the Red Wings and Pistons.

And Comerica Park. Have I touched all the bases? Lol.

**EGrant** · May-03-17, 09:55 PM

I'm excited to hop on the QLine from downtown and head to Midtown for lunch and dinner. I fully understand this is not meant to be some hyper-efficient mode of mass transit, but rather a way to connect two of the most vibrant areas in the city.

**royce** · May-04-17, 12:53 AM

The only reason to ever extend the Q-Line will be to replace the D-DOT Woodward bus. Also, I am hoping that after all of the problems it will face on the southbound side, that it will be revamped and placed in the second lane like it is on the northbound side, returning all of those lost on-street parking spaces. In addition, if it doesn't replace the D-DOT bus, then any extension needs to go along Grand Boulevard heading up to the Motown Museum.

At its present incarnation, the Q-Line is nothing more than a smoother-riding means of transportation for tourists and the those wanting to get from Midtown to Downtown and vice versa. People coming in to see a ball game at any of the stadia are not taking the Q-Line unless they live along its route. Despite all of my apprehensions, I am looking forward to using it when it comes on line.

**KJ5** · May-04-17, 01:19 AM

I can't wait to ride the Woodward bus, watch it leave the Qline in the dust and listen to the other passengers laugh at how stupid white people are.

**One Shot** · May-04-17, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by KJ5

I can't wait to ride the Woodward bus, watch it leave the Qline in the dust and listen to the other passengers laugh at how stupid white people are.

Ill be laughing regardless of skin color. This thing is gonna be interesting. Drivers downtown can't/won't follow basic traffic laws let alone special ones around a street car.

**dtowncitylover** · May-04-17, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by One Shot

Ill be laughing regardless of skin color. This thing is gonna be interesting. Drivers downtown can't/won't follow basic traffic laws let alone special ones around a street car.

There's the true Detroit regional spirit we know and love!

I mean it's going to be equally funny when a bus driver thinks he can beat the streetcar and destroys a bus in the process.

**gumby** · May-04-17, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by KJ5

I can't wait to ride the Woodward bus, watch it leave the Qline in the dust and listen to the other passengers laugh at how stupid white people are.

Wow, racist much?

**KJ5** · May-04-17, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by gumby

Wow, racist much?

Full disclosure: I'm Caucasian myself

**467riverfix** · May-12-17, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by KJ5

Full disclosure: I'm Caucasian myself

So, does it make it any less racist?

**emu steve** · May-13-17, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by royce

The only reason to ever extend the Q-Line will be to replace the D-DOT Woodward bus. Also, I am hoping that after all of the problems it will face on the southbound side, that it will be revamped and placed in the second lane like it is on the northbound side, returning all of those lost on-street parking spaces. In addition, if it doesn't replace the D-DOT bus, then any extension needs to go along Grand Boulevard heading up to the Motown Museum.

At its present incarnation, the Q-Line is nothing more than a smoother-riding means of transportation for tourists and the those wanting to get from Midtown to Downtown and vice versa. People coming in to see a ball game at any of the stadia are not taking the Q-Line unless they live along its route. Despite all of my apprehensions, I am looking forward to using it when it comes on line.

Royce, I think this remains to be seen.

A one-day example:

Last Thanksgiving day I came to see the end of the parade and the Lions' football game.

I parked in the lot opposite Masonic Temple and walked I'd guess almost a mile. I did not want to drive ANYWHERE near the parade.

I'd been glad to take the nearest QLine stop [[Sproat) to Grand Circus.

I'm guessing when I come to a Tigers' game the end of June that I'll park near WSU or park again next the Masonic and take QLine to Montcalm or Grand Circus.

There seems to be a chance to save a few bucks and maybe say a 1/3 to almost 1/2 mile walking distance.

P.S. I'm curious how the Thanksgiving Day parade 2017 will work? Can they run the QLine and have the parade without problems?

**emu steve** · May-04-17, 07:48 AM

ProfessorScott [[anyone):

Was this line built on the Portland model [[hope I got that right)?

If so, what have transportation planners learned from it?

**professorscott** · May-04-17, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by emu steve

ProfessorScott [[anyone):

Was this line built on the Portland model [[hope I got that right)?

If so, what have transportation planners learned from it?

Steve,

To some extent, yes. Portland was one of the cities we visited when we were trying to figure out how to make this work. The Portland Streetcar is, hands down, the slowest public transportation vehicle I have ever seen outside of New York crosstown buses, but it is enormously popular. We were trying to come up with something that would not be as slow but would serve some of the same purposes.

We studied and visited other cities as well, but it is fair to say that Portland was one of the inspirations for a lot of the design choices. I believe it was Dallas that pioneered the use of off-wire streetcar operations, which QLine is taking far beyond what Dallas did with it. I believe QLine is the first electric streetcar in North America that will run off-wire for over 50% of its length.

**ekleezy** · May-04-17, 10:55 AM

I'd much rather see more lines added in the greater downtown area before extending to Pontiac. Hopefully both can happen eventually, but I'm more interested in seeing Detroit become a city where it's considered easy to get by without a car like other major cities.

**the rock** · May-04-17, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by ekleezy

I'd much rather see more lines added in the greater downtown area before extending to Pontiac. Hopefully both can happen eventually, but I'm more interested in seeing Detroit become a city where it's considered easy to get by without a car like other major cities.

The Q line from Pontiac to Detroit? At its pokey pace, it would probably take 3 hours with all the stops. Does not sound very practical.