Dreaming of a Detroit Metro Commuter Rail
When I moved to Southeast Michigan five years ago one of the first things I noticed was the lack of a viable public transportation system. Mainly there was no rail system connecting Ann Arbor with Detroit. After a while I began to understand that this was in large part due to the mindset of the region. Everyone drives — it’s a God given right (this is the home of the auto industry mind you). Despite the prevailing mentality that every person in the region must own a car (the metro consists roughly of over 5 million people), there has been a modest effort to create a commuter rail system. At one point I looked at taking the bus but discovered it would have more than doubled the time it already took me to drive to Detroit.
AnnArbor.com ran a story this weekend that the SEMCOG commuter rail that is to connect Ann Arbor and Detroit. The surprising news is that the rail system could be running in some capacity by year-end. If this project ever becomes a reality, I will be one of the first people taking advantage of the commuter rail. Driving in the metro can be summed up as nothing less than drudgery. To reclaim an hour and a half of my day would be priceless (1 1/2 x 5 days x 52 weeks = about 2 weeks). With the hour and half I could make business calls, prepare or recap from the day’s work, or just relax and unwind. I’m a bit pessimistic the project will ever come to fruition but here’s to hoping.
Here’s a video from SEMCOG that provides a good overview of the proposed commuter train including proposed stops.
