A New Conversation About Light Rail: FORGET OAKLAND COUNTY

[Stosh]

Of course, this all depends on whether Ann Arbor actually wants to come to Detroit, and vice versa. That's another county government to deal with too. And the cost of light rail to Ann Arbor and the Airport, to match what is going in on Woodward and concievably elsewhere would be on the backs of the citizens of Detroit? Yeah, right.

[professorscott]

Ann Arbor is too far for light rail but commuter rail makes perfect sense. Actually commuter rail, to be most effective, ought to go beyond A-squared to Chelsea and Dexter, which would give it a whole new reason to exist.

Now, how can I say categorically something like "is too far for light rail"? Be careful of opinions disguised as facts What I actually am saying can be put more precisely: a light rail line from Detroit to Ann Arbor is not going to qualify for Federal new starts funding, and without that, it almost certainly can't be built.

Based on transit patterns in the metro area, a light rail line along Woodward could probably qualify for funding at least as far north as Royal Oak and possibly a bit further. Gratiot might have qualified if DDOT and SMART had worked together on it, from downtown to probably Roseville or perhaps Mount Clemens, but don't hold your breath waiting for DDOT and SMART to work together on anything whatever.

There is no other single corridor in metro Detroit where existing transit ridership is sufficient to make it likely a new starts application would be successful. So while it's nice to think about Michigan Avenue or East Jefferson or whatever, we would have to build such projects completely on our own, without Uncle Sugar helping out, so I think those are non-starters.

Now, it is correct to say that a lot of people in Oakland County, and plenty of municipal officials, would love to have improved transit. But Brooks is the County Big Kahuna, and the luau doesn't happen if he says it doesn't. And he says it doesn't.

[BrushStart]

There is no other single corridor in metro Detroit where existing transit ridership is sufficient to make it likely a new starts application would be successful. So while it's nice to think about Michigan Avenue or East Jefferson or whatever, we would have to build such projects completely on our own, without Uncle Sugar helping out, so I think those are non-starters.

That's really the heart of the issue. Is the rest of the region, namely Wayne County, willing to front the cost of light rail down Michigan Ave? Even assuming Washtenaw meets us half-way, I'm not sure what kind of money we're talking about... But here's a dose of reality that puts things in perspective: Uncle Sugar will likely never pay for light rail down Michigan, so no matter when it's built, Wayne County is likely going to have to bankroll the lion's share of the cost anyways. I always expected that connecting Detroit to the airport and A2 was part of the long-term plan, so why not just go for it? It's only going to get more expensive as time goes on and if things keep trending south economically, it's only going be less and less financially feasible. There's support for building some kind of mass transit now because the idea is fresh. If Oakland County is going to stonewall the effort to go north. Take the federal money and build the originally planned Woodward stretch, then lay the first locally paid for track on Michigan Ave. Better yet, find new private backers and give them an investment stake in the project to offset costs.

I'm not in charge, but those who are really need to consider the possibility that going north into Oakland County isn't going to occur. And, that fact alone shouldn't allow the entire effort of many decades become another embarrasing, total bust. That's what a light rail line that stops a 8 Mile will be, and OC will laugh and say, "We told you so; Detroit can't do anything right." It will reinforce the opinion that mass transit is a total waste in Southeast Michigan. A permenant setback.