Detroit People Mover changing directions...

**Gistok** · January-31-20, 10:22 PM

According to this article the DPM is changing directions during weekends in February, with the change in directions permanent starting March 1.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/art...cid=spartandhp

Reason? To get more even wheel wear. With the way the DPM sounds when going around curves, I think they could use a good greasing, instead of a change in directions!

**iheartthed** · February-02-20, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

According to this article the DPM is changing directions during weekends in February, with the change in directions permanent starting March 1.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/art...cid=spartandhp

Reason? To get more even wheel wear. With the way the DPM sounds when going around curves, I think they could use a good greasing, instead of a change in directions!

Kind of surprising that it took 30 years to realize that they should do this...

**Uncledave54** · February-02-20, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Kind of surprising that it took 30 years to realize that they should do this...

I'm not surprised at all.
Detroit isnt know for doing things right afterall.

**Johnnny5** · February-02-20, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Kind of surprising that it took 30 years to realize that they should do this...

If my memory is correct [[Can't say that's always been the case lately

) the DPM used to run counter clockwise, so I believe it's been changed before.

**401don** · February-02-20, 03:22 PM

This is very exciting news.

**Downriviera** · February-02-20, 04:25 PM

This provides a great excuse for being late for work.

**Jason** · February-02-20, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Kind of surprising that it took 30 years to realize that they should do this...

It opened in 1987, reversed direction in 2008, and is now reversing direction again.

Also, it's not that going in this new direction is reducing wear, it's that changing directions evens out the wear.

Basically the People Mover is flippings its mattress.

This is an area that the People Mover has been pretty on top of. They've done a lot of rail replacement and grinding and work on the profiles.

**Danny** · February-02-20, 04:50 PM

I can't wait to see when the Q-Line reverse directions!!

**Honky Tonk** · February-03-20, 09:00 AM

I would suggest to DPM, that they change directions twice a year, to coincide with the DST changes. This way it becomes part of routine maintenance, and all riders become aware when the changes will occur. That would also cut down on those "late for work" excuses.

**iheartthed** · February-03-20, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by Jason

It opened in 1987, reversed direction in 2008, and is now reversing direction again.

Also, it's not that going in this new direction is reducing wear, it's that changing directions evens out the wear.

Basically the People Mover is flippings its mattress.

This is an area that the People Mover has been pretty on top of. They've done a lot of rail replacement and grinding and work on the profiles.

Yes, I know why they're doing it. This is a unique problem for the DPM because the trains only run in one direction. Most rapid transit train cars run back and forth, in either direction, every day.

**Gistok** · February-03-20, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Yes, I know why they're doing it. This is a unique problem for the DPM because the trains only run in one direction. Most rapid transit train cars run back and forth, in either direction, every day.

But not on the same set of tracks!

Example... Miami's system...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiI9jTwsWzs

**poobert** · February-03-20, 09:29 PM

Potemkin transit. Bomb it and the Qdoggle.

**Jason** · February-04-20, 01:06 AM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Yes, I know why they're doing it. This is a unique problem for the DPM because the trains only run in one direction. Most rapid transit train cars run back and forth, in either direction, every day.

The reversal is to even out the wear on the rails on the curved sections, because entering a curve causes different wear than exiting a curve.

The trains themselves are going in the opposite direction but they're not being flipped [[I don't think they have the means to rotate them without hiring a crane company to lift them up and turn them around). So for the trains the wheels that are on the outer edge of the loop are still on the outer edge of the loop, and the wheels on the inner edge are still on the inner edge. It's hard visualizing this so I might not be correct but I'm pretty sure this doesn't affect wheel wear much.

Anyway, this is an interesting side effect of being a one way system, and it's nice that it can be taken advantage of.

**Gistok** · February-04-20, 02:14 AM

Jason... I was once inside the DPM maintenance center [[at Times Square Station) back when the DPM first started running. And although I don't remember a roundtable, I was amazed at how huge the storage and maintenance space was [[where the DPM cars go when the system closes for the night). It could hold at least 40 DPM cars.

So there is every possibility they may not need a crane, although my memory is from 35 or so years ago...

**Jason** · February-04-20, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

But not on the same set of tracks!

Example... Miami's system...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiI9jTwsWzs

I'm guessing that you're referencing the Detroit People Mover family tree here.

What you linked to is the Metrorail, which is an unrelated metro system [[although related in the sense that it feeds into downtown the same way that SEMTA's Woodward light rail was supposed to). Your point still stands though because it's a two way steel wheel/rail system.

The Miami Metromover is what you're thinking of, which was part of the UMTA's [[now the FTA) Downtown People Mover program. While they're both people movers, theirs is a rubber tire system with conventional electric motors.

The Vancouver Skytrain uses the same technology as us [[steel wheels and linear induction motors) and was built around the same time by the same company as us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9wv6if7fk0

And then since then the same technology as ours has been used to build over a dozen metro systems built by a variety of companies. They can be identified by the metal plates that run down the middle of the tracks.

**Jason** · February-04-20, 02:42 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Jason... I was once inside the DPM maintenance center [[at Times Square Station) back when the DPM first started running. And although I don't remember a roundtable, I was amazed at how huge the storage and maintenance space was [[where the DPM cars go when the system closes for the night). It could hold over 50 DPM cars.

So there is every possibility they may not need a crane, although my memory is from 35 or so years ago...

That's really cool and I'd love to visit there. They don't do public tours but they really should.

From diagrams that I've seen, the inside has a few spurs which go off, with some areas being for vehicle storage and some areas for vehicle maintenance. There's nothing indicating a turntable. I don't know for sure though.

Everything is kind of opaque and weird with them. They can indeed double the capacity of the fleet [[from 12 to 24 vehicles) by building out the rest of the facility. Recently [[within the last few years, I don't remember exactly) on their wishlist for the city they said that they wanted to finish building out the maintenance facility to improve the logistics in there, and that they already had the rails from when it was originally constructed, they just needed money to install them. Did they get the money and do it? Who knows. And who knows why the rails weren't just installed in the first place because I doubt they saved much money by buying but not installing a few hundred feet of rail.

**Tig3rzhark** · February-04-20, 05:49 PM

Too bad there's no hope for the people mover expanding further outward from downtown. The wait times for buses have gone down, but it will never be like the people mover. At least the DPM wait times are lower than DDOT/SMART.

**Jimaz** · December-20-22, 09:53 PM

Sunny Ride on Detroit's People Mover

A beautiful sunny day in Detroit, the occasion to enjoy a ride on the People Mover.

The Detroit People Mover [[DPM) is a 2.94-mile [[4.73 km) elevated automated people mover system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using Intermediate Capacity Transit System linear induction motor technology developed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation.

The People Mover is owned and operated by the Detroit Transportation Corporation, an agency of the Detroit city government.

The People Mover is supplemented by the QLine streetcar, which connects the system with Midtown, New Center, and the Detroit Amtrak station. The system also connects to DDOT and SMART bus routes as part of a comprehensive network of transportation in metropolitan Detroit.

**Gistok** · December-20-22, 11:21 PM

When did the People Mover start skipping stations?

**K-slice** · December-21-22, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

When did the People Mover start skipping stations?

Some of them have been getting repairs since the Covid shutdown ended. When I rode it last week I think only two were still closed. Cadillac Square and Ren Cen.