The Motor City Public Transit Blues

Editorial: The People Mover. The QLine. Two proof-of-concept tram systems that cover about as much ground as the kiddie-car train at The Detroit Zoo. How is it that Detroit—city that used to be mentioned in the same breath as New York, London or Paris—just can't get an effective mass transit system. One bus per hour per line.

I distinctly remember a bus ride from MCC South Campus to the Cass Tech area that took, beside the Gen. Patton-like coordination between various bus schedules, three hours including the transfer at the Royal Oak Transit Center. A trip that would have generously taken 45 minutes by car.

It's not for lack of trying, as the linked article elaborates. Even Cleveland has a functional public transit, for the love of Colman! Chicago can connect the surrounding cities, why can't Detroit? Yes, I'm familiar with the plethora of excuses reasons of varying veracity. Only recently Detroit's [saviour|plunderer] and QLine namer Dan Gilbert has seen the light but I'm compelled to question his motives after his near-total silence on the matter until now.

Sorry for the rant but this is a subject that has stuck in my throat like a small fish bone for longer than I care to remember. And now back to our regularly scheduled program…