An Audience Opinion on the Development of Mass Transit

[NorthofNormal]

I'm not anti-transit at all. I'm very in favor of region-wide transportation options, and I'd much prefer rail to buses. I understand that something like that needs to be incremental, but I already see the arguments that could doom this whole thing--the random jackwagons on this board who refer to it as the "magic choochoo train," for example. If it isn't seen from the get-go as something that can be a benefit to suburbanites, they are going to use the argument that it's not useful to avoid having to support [[read: pay for) it.

The RTCC plan sure looks nifty, but it also says that, during the short term [[2009-2012), "intensive planning effors must be underway for the services expected to be implemented in the 2013-2015 time period." Those 2013-2016 services include expanding the Woodward light rail to 11 Mile. Convening a study task force at this late a date isn't really "intensive planning."

I'm not entirely pessimistic about the effort, but I do have some fears.

[Augustiner]

If it isn't seen from the get-go as something that can be a benefit to suburbanites, they are going to use the argument that it's not useful to avoid having to support [[read: pay for) it.

They'll use that argument no matter where it goes. They'll say "sure it's going right past my front door, but I hate trains and will never ride a train so why should I have to pay for it?" The difference is that, if it's built by DDOT and doesn't leave the city limits, it doesn't really matter what people in the suburbs think about it.

I think it'll be easier to solicit suburban support once there's something in place and its effects are more tangible. Right now, it's easy to say "nobody will ride it" and awfully hard to disprove it.

[JBMcB]

The difference is that, if it's built by DDOT and doesn't leave the city limits, it doesn't really matter what people in the suburbs think about it.

Yes it does, since it's going to have to be subsidized by them, and the rest of the state, like pretty much every other city rail system in the US. If it becomes another people mover scenario, it's going to be hard to justify the subsidy for the half of Michigan's population who lives nowhere near Detroit and will probably never use the train.