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Old 06-19-2018, 02:37 PM
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benman94 benman94 is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 1,190
Quote:
Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007 View Post
Since urban public electric transportation is scarce in some parts of the world, I ask you: did you ever ride with the:
1) Tram (streetcar) (trolley) (trolleycar);
2) Light rail;
3) Underground (subway);
4) Trolleybus (trolleycoach) (trackless trolley)
and if so, how was you experience with it?
1. Streetcars? Yes, we have a streetcar line down Woodward Avenue here in Detroit. It's relatively new having opened in May of 2017. Detroit used to have a massive streetcar network in the 40s, but GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Packard lobbied hard to have that killed; the last remaining line down Woodward ended streetcar service in 1956, and the cars were sent down to Mexico City where they were used until the 1980s. The overhead wires were kept into the 1960s and 1970s and used for trolleybuses that were universally loathed.

2. Light rail? Yes. I've ridden on the Metra lines in and out of Chicago. The Detroit area is supposed to get the MiTrain between Detroit and Ann Arbor starting in 2022, and the WALLY train between Howell and Ann Arbor sometime after that. These would be Metra style trains.

3. Subways? Yes, in Chicago, NYC, and Philadelphia. Detroit does not have a subway as such, but does have the Detroit people mover which is an elevated subway loop not unlike a smaller, useless version of the Chicago "L".

4, Trolleybuses? No. They had long been extinct in Detroit by the time I was born.

Detroit is kind of unusual for a city of its size (or rather former size) in that it has no real mass transit aside from the Woodward streetcar, which is of debatable use, the People Mover, which is entirely useless, and the bus system which is just as bad. Everybody drives in South-East Michigan, which is unsurprising given that at one point in time, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and Packard had upwards of 80% to 95% of the GLOBAL market share in cars and trucks between them, and they actively colluded to keep mass transit out of Detroit, and to kill whatever already existed. The city has been, and likely always will be, primarily a car town. It's just too ingrained in our culture.

Incidentally, our traffic flows considerably better than most cities in the US. I've driven in bad traffic around the country, and for an area of its population, Detroit easily has the best roadways in terms of traffic control I've ever seen. Road surface quality is horrible, but that's another issue altogether.
Historically, we've consistently lead the way in traffic control innovations, and improvements to roadways in general.

William Potts built the first modern traffic light in 1920, and it was installed at the corner of Woodward and Michigan in October of 1920.
The Michigan Left was developed in the 1960s so as to reduce the traffic deaths along Telegraph Road. It's been a complete success, and EVERY state should adopt it IMHO.
The first urban freeway, the Davision, was built in 1941 and 1942.
The first complete mile of paved road in the world, Woodward between 6 mile and 7 mile.
Lines on the road marking individual lanes, developed by Edward Hines circa 1911 and first used in Trenton, Michigan.

We also consistently lead the way in automotive innovation. Henry and Edsel Ford, the Dodge Brothers, William Durant, Alfred Sloan, Charles Kettering, David Buick, Josiah Dort, Henry Leland, Walter Chrysler, Harry Bassett, and Ransom Olds, among others, all lived and/or worked in Michigan in the auto industry. Hell, prior to the popularization and refinement of the car, most of the country's horse drawn vehicles were built in Flint, eventual home of GM's Chevrolet and Buick divisions. Given that South-East Michigan was the home for the world's auto industry, it isn't surprising that mass transit never really took root here.
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