DETROIT (WWJ) – Monday marks 36 years since the way people explore Downtown Detroit changed – the Detroit People Mover took its maiden voyage.
But all this time later, the People Mover often gets a bad rap. While there’s definitely a contingent of Detroiters who love the elevated rail system, many lament the closed loop and lack of practicality.
That argument certainly isn’t what the originators of the People Mover had in mind (more than half a century ago). On a new Daily J podcast, WWJ’s Zach Clark learns the People Mover was actually supposed to be the start of something much bigger.
While today there are 13 stops along the 2.9-mile loop at or near critical places in Detroit’s entertainment and financial districts – stations near Greektown, the Renaissance Center, Comerica Park and Ford Field, just to name a few – it was meant to be the catalyst for more public transit.
“Its origins really go back to the 1970s when former Mayor Coleman A. Young had a desire to do what other urban cities were doing across the country, and that’s to build a high-speed rail or subway system in the city that would connect areas of the city with the surrounding suburbs,” said Detroit historian Ken Coleman.
Young wanted to go to President and Michigander Gerald Ford – and later President Jimmy Carter – to lobby for federal funding for a subway or light rail system, which ultimately fell through in the 1980s.
The goal was to “buoy” Downtown Detroit and extend other rail options into other parts of the city and neighboring suburbs, Coleman said. The idea originated at a time Detroit was losing population and unemployment was high.
Though Detroit now has the QLine as a link to that idea, the dream of mass transit never really came to fruition.
But in the People Mover, the city does have, at a minimum, a great way to see the city from above and get around for major events – at just 75 cents a ride.
“If someone wanted to see the city, Downtown, and kind of pick and choose where they went, this would be a good way to do it,” Clark said. “The People Mover is basically used for recreation only… So if that’s what it is, enjoy it for that. But the People Mover is not and cannot be Detroit’s answer to transit. It is only one piece to the puzzle.”
Want more of The Daily J? Just text WWJ to 20357 to get the podcast delivered to your phone or tablet for free, every Monday-Friday. And be sure to subscribe. Msg and data rates apply. Or, just search for The Daily J and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Related
Related
