Erica Leonardi

Dr. Martin
Honors 1000 Thursdays
1 December 2014
Detroit transportation
Many unemployed or underemployed people in Detroit lack proper means to reach
available jobs that are located outside their immediate residential areas. Affordable transportation
for low income families could greatly enhance their access to better jobs. How can the recently
bankrupt city of Detroit improve the current transportation system and allow citizens, especially
the underprivileged, to reach a wider area and more opportunities? One major way Detroit is
attempting to correct this problem of a lack of public transportation includes the creation of a
new rail way: the M1 rail. I believe the simplest most sensible and most affordable way for
Detroit to solve the issue leans toward the encouragementrevolves around encouraging citizens

Comment [Ma1]: Changing a citys culture is

never easy: find another adjective that fits
better, like sensible, innovative, revolutionary
Comment [Ma2]: Revolves around

to use of bikes as a normal mode of transportation. In order to fix the problem we must first
understand the problems issues with Detroits transportation system, then observe what Detroit it
doing to help and then come up with other ideas to add to the plan in progress.
It seems fitting that the automotive capital of the world would be built in such a way to
encourage people to own and drive a car, rather than utilizing public transportations, but it
wasnt always like that: Detroit used to own a very extensive streetcar network, and its citizens
in the 1920s had many choices to move from point A to point B. In the late 40s the streetcars
were progressively replaced by buses and the public transportation scene slowly morphed into
todays dysfunctional mess.1

www.metrotimes.com

Regardless of the many vehicles on the road, there are 60,000 families in Detroit lacking
access to an automobile vehicle, and this large potential workforce is trapped within the confines
of their community. Relying on the aging bus fleet to reach ones work location is likely to cause
frequent problems, as delays, breakdowns, and overcrowding are common issues that every
habitual user has encountereds with regularitly. Detroit maintains two different bus systems: the
DDOT and the SMART. DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation) is the largest bus agency
and it focuses on traveling within the city and to local areas. Budget cuts in funding and jobs,
however, have resulted in poor maintenance of the buses and the system, which accounts for the
unreliable reputation of the buses in Detroit. SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional
Transportation) encompasses mainly the suburban area and connects commuters with jobs to the
downtown area.2 However, the two systems do not overlap meaning a bus pass for one system
does not allow access to the other bus system. This especially frustrates those who live in the
suburbs who want to visit local stops but are restricted by the limitations of the suburban system.
A regional agency, on the other hand, would be able to provide a larger traveling scope for those
suburban residents.

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As a mean to improve peoples mobility, the city of Detroit has launched a large project whose
objective is

Detroit is attempting to correct this problem by building the M1 rail, a 3.3 mile long
streetcar rail, along Woodward Avenue3. The project which started as a privately funded
initiative, has become a federally supported project, with lengthy bureaucratic processes and very
4

slow progress. The goal is to connect the downtown area with Midtown, which is the most
vibrant and active part of the city, site of Wayne State University, the hospitals and mMuseum
2

Critical Planning: A Journal of the UCLA Department of Urban Planning

Crains Detroit Business
4
http://erb.umich.edu/erbperspective/2013/09/13/entreprenurs-help-motor-city-become-mobility-city/
3

Comment [Ma3]: The M1 rail does not

address the 2 bus systems issue just
described. I suggest As a mean to improve
peoples mobility, the city od Detroit has
launched a large project whose objective is
Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New
Roman

districts. The M1 rail will pass by two popular stadiums, Comerica Park, home to Detroits
professional baseball team, the Tigers, and Ford Field, home of the Detroits Lions football
team.5 One of the projects main selling points is that this new transportation will connect the
residents of the Woodward corridor to an estimated 1356,000 jobs available in the areas served.
According to m-1rail.com, it is expected that a one-way, walk-up ticket fare [for the M1-rail]
will be $1.50 per-person and will be pre-paid prior to boarding Monthly and annual passes and
prices will be made available.
Along with the M1 rail construction, the plans include a bike and a walking path. To
encourage bike use, Detroit has recently incorporate 55 miles of bike lanes over around the
Motor city and organizes biking events, for example the Tour de Troit.6 I think this idea could be
expanded to create another viable alternative to automobilesmotorized transportation: the Smart
Bike. 7 Smart bikes is a bicycle sharing system. The smart bike is a serviceable, sturdy bicycle
containing a tracker and is available for public use. It is built with a steel frame, adjustable seat,
and a chain-guard. Smart Bikes are made with unique dimensions, a theft prevention technique to
avoid people from stealing individual parts for personal bikes. The bikes are located in groups, or
stations, located every couple blocks, and are locked up to a bike rack, which unlocks once a
bike is rented. In order to rent out a Smart bike, the user can either simply use a credit card or
become a member and use a smart card. For regular users, people can register for a smart card
and pay a monthly fee, instead of paying by the hour, an option suitable for infrequent,
recreational type userscomparable to the credit card users. Next to each bike station includes aA
map of where to find the other station locations, and a Use at your own risk liability outline are
located near each renting station. The bikes, are an easy fix to the major transportation problem
5

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/15/smallbusiness/detroit_m1_light_rail/index.htm
http://www.livinggreen.wayne.edu/transportation/
7
Smart Bikes: Public Transportation for the 21st Century
6

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because they are inexpensive to manufacture and to maintain, can be a great complement to the
public transportation system, adding a flexible alternative to buses and streetcars. The bikes are
also a convenient way to exercise and add no additional air pollution to the environment. The
national capital, Washington D.C, has been effectively using a similar biking system as this one,
called the sharing system, since 2008. Together with Arlington and other neighboring
communities, they now offer over 200 stations and over 1800 bikes.8
This system allows tourists and occasional users to experience the city with a new and
different perspective, while making it more affordable for regulator users. A daily rentals is $7, a
monthly subscription is $25 and an annual pass is $75. To make payment easier for low income
people, an annual membership option with monthly installments is available for $84 with twelve
monthly payments s of $7 payments. Members are allowed to take as many trips as necessary for
thirty minutes at a time before additional chargers occur. 9This happens in order to maintain the
idea to share the bikes: the idea to take the bike, ride it to where you need to go and leave it at the
nearest station to allow the bike to be rented by another individual who needs it. Comparatively
to the two different Detroit Bus Systems, the SMART bus monthly fee is $66 for unlimited rides
for only SMART route service, the DDOT monthly fee is $47 for only DDOT routes, and the
$49.50 Regional Monthly Pass is for unlimited rides on both the SMART and DDOT buses with
an additional fee of $0.50 for each SMART ride.10 In order to accommodate for days with
horrible weather, the Smart bike could offer an option to purchase a ceurtain number of
discounted bus rides. To further expandtake full advantage of on this idea, the city must make the
streets more bike friendly by adding a more comprehensive network of bike lanes. This will
encourage people with their own bikes to join in with the city.
8

www.capitalbikeshare.com
www.capitalbikeshare.com
10
https://www.smartbus.org/Fares/Buy-Passes/Online-Store
9

The organization, Campus Alternative Transportation Map (CATMap), which is part of

Wayne State University, has already begun to invest into the idea of the Smart Bike. Students
present their one card at the Mort Harris Recreation and Fitness Center and are able to rent a
bike: for a one hour a bike rental is $2, afor twelve hours rental is $5 and for a full day rental is
$10. To encourage biking, Wayne State placed over 100 bike racks around campus and Wayne
State Police sells bike chains to prevent bike theft. The Recreation and Fitness Center also holds
biking events for both entertaining and competing purposes. According to Wayne State living
green website, among these tours there is the annual Green Ride which is a bicycle tour of local
green infrastructure, urban farms, and sustainably developed sites. The tour stops included visits
to the green roof on the WSU Schaap Chemistry Building, SEED Wayne campus gardens, as
well as the wind turbine and solar array site atop the Engineering Technology Building.11 The
group makes six additional stops to visit other gardens, farms, parks and houses along the way. 12
Combined, aAlthough limited by city funding and Michigan weather conditions, the M1Rail and the Smart Bike combined can greatly improve the current public transportation
conditions in Detroit. With these two new systems, the future of Detroit holds the promise of a
cleaner environment with more bikes on the road and a new carpooling alternative system for
those lacking a vehicle. The future holds new ways to help transport people to places they need
to go and it will especially help out the working class. In order to resurrect Detroit from the its
impoverished conditionsity, it is necessary to build up the people because in turn it will help
build up the city.

11
12

http://livinggreen.wayne.edu/transportation/index.php
http://www.livinggreen.wayne.edu/transportation/

Bibliography
1.

Byrnes, Adam. "Entrepreneurs Help Motor City Become Mobility City." Erb Perspective

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0.5", No bullets or numbering

Blog. Oikos Student Reporter, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

<http://erb.umich.edu/erbperspective/2013/09/13/entreprenurs-help-motor-city-becomemobility-city/>
2.

"Capital Bikeshare." What is Capital Bikeshare. Capital Bikeshare, n.d. Web. 29 Nov.
2014. <www.capitalbikeshare.com>

3.

"Capital Bikeshare." Pricing. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/pricing>.

4.

DeMaio, Paul J. "Ideas in Motion." Smart Bikes: Public Transportation for the 21st
Century (n.d.): 1-4. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

5.

LaRose, Jeremiah, Alyssa Netto, and Trevor Thomas. "Transit Access and Regional
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Department of Urban Planning Critical Planning, 21 (2014): 1-7. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/how-detroit-ended-up-with-the-worst-publictransit/Content?oid=2143889 >

6.

Maralson, Chelsea. "Transportation - Office of Campus Sustainability- Wayne State

University." Transportation - Office of Campus Sustainability- Wayne State University.
Wayne State University, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.livinggreen.wayne.edu/transportation/>

7.

"Online Store." Online Store. Ride Smart, 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<https://www.smartbus.org/Fares/Buy-Passes/Online-Store>.

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8.

Ryan, Felton. "How Detroit Ended up with the Worst Public Transit." Detroit Metro
Times. MetroTimes, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

9.

Scott, Mike. "Mass Transit for Motor City." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 15 Feb.
2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
<http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/15/smallbusiness/detroit_m1_light_rail/index.htm>

10.

Shea, Bill. "Complex Funding Puts M-1 Rail on Right Track - M-1 Rail." M1 Rail. N.p.,
28 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.