Two years in, Detroit’s QLine falls far short of expectations

[iheartthed]

I drive down Woodward several times a week and without fail there is some asshole sitting in their car [[or left it parked whilt they "ran in" somewhere) blocking a lane between Campus Martius and Grand Circus. There are "No Standing" signs all along there. There should be cops there daily writing $500 tickets for impeding traffic.

The city [[or state) should also paint the lane where the train runs. NYC started this a couple years ago for bus only lanes, and it does make it more clear that the lanes are special for drivers when they're in the moment.

https://nacto.org/publication/transi...arkings-color/

[DetroitGuy423]

I drive down Woodward several times a week and without fail there is some asshole sitting in their car [[or left it parked whilt they "ran in" somewhere) blocking a lane between Campus Martius and Grand Circus. There are "No Standing" signs all along there. There should be cops there daily writing $500 tickets for impeding traffic.

Yea, I've seen cars with their back end hanging in the way of the tracks. On Sunday, I was walking through Midtown and a blonde haired older woman pulled up and hopped out of her car to go inside to Great Lakes Roasting. While she was walking towards the front door, another patron told her she better move her car. She seemed annoyed, but she got back into her car and left. Unbelievable to me that someone could be so oblivious to the train tracks underneath their car.

[Worldsgreatest]

Then why dont we simply make the curb side lane dedicated? It's not like Woodward needs so many traffic lanes.

[Towne Cluber]

Wow, so that's how it is around here.

I live across the street from the Shinola hotel and let me give you the blow by blow from the last three instances when this has happened.

April - A Woman in a hijab and her son [[wearing a Fordson Jacket) got towed while at the Nike store in a black Jeep. [[I have included a picture of the Jeep for your viewing pleasure).
Attachment 38151

Also April - A man with an Orange Brother Rice bumper sticker in a Charcoal Gray Grand Cherokee was towed.

In March - A couple wearing matching United Shore hoodies [[US is HQ'd in Pontiac) with a white Ford Fusion was towed.

Any other thinly veiled insults you would like to throw my way?

What an infantile imbecile you are; all you needed to do was politely ask why I thought that way, but no!! You opted to welcome me to the forum with unwarranted insults, which speaks volumes about the 'half' full status of your own brain.

Well, thanks good sir, you have certainly earned the title of asshole of the day. Congrats!

Believe it or not but Detroiters attend Brother Rice and work at United Shore.

[Detroit]

I work near Grand Circus Park and we sometimes want to go to Midtown or New Center for lunch. Typically our hour lunch turns in to 1.5 to a 2 hour lunch if the Qline is involved... It seems every time we want to head north, the board at the station says it is 27 minutes give or take till the next train. Well, the restaurant is only a 25 minute walk so we just walk... and in the entire time, we will usually see 2 trains southbound and never see one going northbound. I have no problem at all with the cost of the fare. It is simply not worth taking due to the poor timing... I know it costs money to run several trains at once, but if you do not make the Qline efficient for the vast number of people that are on the move, it isn't going to succeed. If you are elderly or handicapped, I can see putting up with it, but during the work day people usually have a schedule to keep.

I thought they were working with MDOT to make it so the Qline has the ability to get a green light... what ever happened with that? I have also experienced several times the ticker boards malfunctioning and showing the stops heading the wrong direction..

[Gistok]

Wow, so that's how it is around here.

No... you are welcome here... I was testing to see if you were thin skinned... and also that this forum is of Greater Detroit, and not just Detroit... so suburban resident bashing or city resident bashing is just a continuation of the problems that have separated us for a long time.

That "50 posts and half a brain" comment is for anyone who picks on our "mascot" member, who I won't name [[no it's not Honky Tonk)... that is a special needs poster, who you will learn in due time not to argue with or insult.

But this forum is about trying to "bring together" all the people/communities of greater Detroit, so we don't repeat the mistakes that held us back these last 60 years or so. Glad you live downtown... hope the Ilitch's stop trying to destroy downtown, so more people like yourself can do so.

[Danny]

It's time for Gilbert's Toy Choo Choo to expand its routes from Detroit and the suburbs.

[casscorridor]

It's time for Gilbert's Toy Choo Choo to expand its routes from Detroit and the suburbs.

yeah unfortunately Toy Choo Choos aren't really a good option for expansion outside of small areas. commuter light-rail utilizing a mix of surface streets and existing rail right-of-ways makes much more sense.

[royce]

The decision to have the south bound tracks of the Q-Line be in the former parking lane was a bad idea. It was gonna be fraught with problems. Forget about vehicles blocking the lane. If cars are making right turns and pedestrians are crossing, the Q-Line has to stop and wait.The north bound tracks being in the second lane shouldn't be as much of a problem once you are passed Grand Circus Park. I think and improvement to the service could come in the form of expansion, not on other arterial roads, but expansion along Grand Boulevard heading west. With all of the residential development occurring in New Center, it seems that the more logical expansion of the Q-Line along West Grand Boulevard to the Motown Museum would improve ridership.

[A2Mike]

Many of these complaints would never arisen had the line been a subway. In San Francisco the Muni and BART get far more riders downtown than out in the avenues, where the Muni runs at grade level [[BART then runs elevated, which affects ridership much less). Maybe the whole US rail complex needs to contract with the Japan Railways Group - we might even get a maglev Shinkansen to New York, possibly faster than a drive to DTW.

[Johnnny5]

Take all the disavantages of a train, all the shortcomings of a bus and roll them all up. Congratulations you've made a QLINE!

[Honky Tonk]

Take all the disavantages of a train, all the shortcomings of a bus and roll them all up. Congratulations you've made a QLINE!

Now run your "Q-Line" overhead, like the people remover, to stay out of the way of traffic, and you've got it.

[Johnnny5]

Now run your "Q-Line" overhead, like the people remover, to stay out of the way of traffic, and you've got it.

And that obviously comes with its own set of problems/costs [[Which is why the People Mover was never fully extended).

I have to admit, my statement really isn't fair. The Q-Line doesn't combine all of the problems of a train and a bus into one, only enough from each that it just doesn't make sense. For all the money that has and will be sunk into this we probably could have had an amazing, fully electric bus line/loop all the way to 8 Mile. It would have served the same purpose [[To far more people), been much cheaper and far more flexible.

[iheartthed]

And that obviously comes with its own set of problems/costs [[Which is why the People Mover was never fully extended).

You guys really showed all those metros that have invested in their rail systems the error of their ways. No place in the U.S. has healthier property values, a more robust economy, and roads as pristine as Metro Detroit.

lol

[bust]

At every urban planning conference there's a session: Learning from Detroit.

It's a cautionary tale.

[Burnsie]

The DSR knew what it was doing eons ago when it built tracks up the CENTER of Woodward. It's a shame the power brokers felt they had to reinvent the wheel.