Just under 300,000 people live and work along the Woodward Corridor in Metro Detroit. The M-1 Light Rail was intended to serve these people while providing the starting point for a regional Metro Detroit mass transit system. On December 13th, 2011, these plans were scrapped to instead be replaced by (yet another) city bus system.

Research and development of a Detroit mass transit project has been in the works since 2001. Studies of not only Detroit, but other cities like Dallas,TX; Portland, OR; and Pittsburgh, PA; have shown that light rail is immensely popular as a source of transportation, and improves the lives of city residents.

The M-1 project has received multiple grants from both the government and from private donors. On October 17, 2011 the Federal government awarded the program $47 million. Now Ray LaHood, Rick Snyder and Dave Bing want to scrap the program because of potential future maintenance costs only 2 months after the government issued the project grant!

The Kresge Foundation (another donor) awarded the M-1 grant with the purpose to "Stimulate development, density and employment in Detroit, and promote investment in regional mass transit." The Kresge Foundation also stated that "a well running regional mass transit system is one of the keys to building a healthy economy." If you live in the Detroit Area, you know that you need a car to get anywhere. And with 22% of Detroit Households not owning cars, how are they supposed to go to work? SMARTbus? DDOT? Maybe if you want to wait several hours for a ride.

Think this doesn't apply to the suburbs? Think again. This fall, Oakland County won federal funding to study extending the rail line north to Maple Road in Birmingham. The initial plans for M-1 extend from downtown up Woodward past 8 mile. Future extensions of this first plan include such traffic hotspots as Jefferson Ave, 8 mile, Metro Parkway, Fort Street, Grand River, Gratiot, Greenfield, M-59, Michigan Ave, Telegraph and Van Dyke.  And remember, if the City of Detroit thrives, the suburbs will thrive as well.

A light rail system would improve life in Detroit, MI and the surrounding suburbs. Now let's speak up and tell our legislators that we need the M-1 to unite Metro Detroit and reemerge as a great city!

UPDATE!

The Light Rail plan described above is planned to be replaced with a Rapid Bus Transport (RBT) system.  This system, proposed by Ray LaHood, creates a triangle with Woodward, M-59 (Hall Road) and Gratiot.  This would be a great addition to Detroit mass transit, but instead it bypasses a majority of the people who NEED mass transit in the City of Detroit, opting for a suburban community where a majority of households own multiple cars.  The M-1 was/is intended to connect strong Detroit communities, and provide a backbone for new development.  THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN WITH A RBT SYSTEM.  Tell Michigan legislators that the Triangle Bus Plan does not serve Southeastern Michigan.