Detroit Transportation Corporation Detroit People Mover: Difference between revisions

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The '''Detroit People Mover''' is a one-way, one-track elevated, light-rail, rapid transit loop that circulates around downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States, originally intended to be incorporated into a regional rapid transit system. It is operated by the '''Detroit Transportation Corporation''', a city of Detroit agency that is completely separate from the [[Detroit Department of Transportation]]. It has 13 stations, is 2.9 miles long and was opened in 1987 (though an opening date of 1991 was mentioned on the city of Detroit website in the early 2000's, this was actually incorrect).
The '''Detroit People Mover''' is a one-way, one-track elevated, light-rail, rapid transit loop that circulates around downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States, originally intended to be incorporated into a regional rapid transit system. It is operated by the '''Detroit Transportation Corporation''', a city of Detroit agency that is completely separate from the [[Detroit Department of Transportation]]. It has 13 stations, is 2.9 miles long and was opened in 1987.


==History==
==History==
Line 20: Line 20:
===Planning and construction===
===Planning and construction===
[[File:Detroit Transportation Corporation 06 and unk-a.jpg|thumb|left|A typical People Mover consist.]]
[[File:Detroit Transportation Corporation 06 and unk-a.jpg|thumb|left|A typical People Mover consist.]]
In the mid-1970's, the [[Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority]] began planning a rapid transit system for metropolitan Detroit, which was to include a Woodward Avenue subway line, which would be underground from downtown north to McNichols Road and elevated from McNichols northward to Pontiac that would terminate in an elevated downtown loop. During this time, Ontario crown corporation [[Urban Transportation Development Corporation]] was working on a light rapid transit project dubbed the [[Urban Transportation Development Corporation Intermediate Capacity Transit System|Intermediate Capacity Transit System]], which was designed to be lighter, smaller and cheaper than a conventional subway yet had the ability to run more frequently and have higher capacities than a streetcar. On August 5, 1981, SEMTA signed a contract with UTDC to use the ICTS on the Woodward subway.
In the mid-1970s, the [[Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority]] began planning a rapid transit system for metropolitan Detroit, which was to include a Woodward Avenue subway line, which would be underground from downtown north to McNichols Road and elevated from McNichols northward to Pontiac, that would terminate in an elevated downtown loop. During this time, Ontario crown corporation [[Urban Transportation Development Corporation]] was working on a light rapid transit project dubbed the [[Urban Transportation Development Corporation Intermediate Capacity Transit System|Intermediate Capacity Transit System]], which was designed to be lighter, smaller and cheaper than a conventional subway yet had the ability to run more frequently and have higher capacities than a streetcar. On August 5, 1981, SEMTA signed a contract with UTDC to use the ICTS on the Woodward subway.


Construction on the elevated downtown loop, which would become the People Mover, began in 1983, but by then, several destinations the system was intended to serve had vanished. Work never began on the subway portion along Woodward, however. As a channel for federal grants, SEMTA was to oversee construction of the line, which was estimated to cost $137 million. The project, however, was plagued by numerous mismanagement problems and mishaps and nearly $66 million in massive cost overruns were projected, so much to the point that the federal government threatened to cease all funding for the rest of the project. In March 1985, with the project still incomplete, SEMTA agreed with then-mayor Coleman A. Young to transfer final completion and operation of the project over to the city of Detroit. This transaction was completed on October 4, 1985. Thus, the Detroit Transportation Corporation was formed to oversee the operation of the People Mover.
Construction on the elevated downtown loop, which would become the People Mover, began in 1983, but by then, several destinations the loop had intended to serve had vanished. Work never began on the subway portion along Woodward, however. As a channel for federal grants, SEMTA was to oversee construction of the line, which was estimated to cost $137 million. The project, however, was plagued by numerous mismanagement problems and mishaps and nearly $66 million in massive cost overruns were projected, so much to the point that the federal government threatened to cease all funding for the rest of the project. In March 1985, with the project still incomplete, SEMTA agreed with then-mayor Coleman A. Young to transfer final completion and operation of the project over to the city of Detroit. This transaction was completed on October 4, 1985. Thus, the Detroit Transportation Corporation was formed to oversee the operation of the People Mover.


The People Mover was ultimately opened to the public on July 31, 1987, becoming the last of the three ICTS systems that went into operation (and the only one in the United States); after the [[SkyTrain]] in Vancouver opened in 1983 with a short section of track and one station and then commenced full operations in December 1985; and the [[Toronto Transit Commission Line 3|Scarborough RT]] in Toronto, which also opened in 1985. Free rides on the system were offered to the public during the first eight days of service, with a $0.50 fare going into effect on August 8.
The People Mover was ultimately opened to the public on July 31, 1987 with twelve stations across downtown Detroit (excluding Cobo Center as construction on that complex's northern expansion was still in progress), becoming the last of the three ICTS systems that went into operation (and the only one in the United States); after the [[SkyTrain]] in Vancouver opened in 1983 with a short section of track and one station and then commenced full operations in December 1985; and the [[Toronto Transit Commission Line 3|Scarborough RT]] in Toronto, which also opened in 1985. Free rides on the system were offered to the public during the first eight days of service, with a $0.50 fare going into effect on August 8.


===Since 1987===
===First two decades===
Originally operating counter-clockwise around the downtown area, following an August 2008 shutdown for construction work, the People Mover permanently switched to clockwise running, although the system can operate in both directions with the use of a passing track located between the Times Square and Michigan Avenue stations. This had been most notably the case twice-first in late 1998 and early 1999 after a portion of the track along Farmer Street was severely damaged during the implosion of the former Hudson's department store building on October 24, 1998; then again between 2002 and 2004 as the Renaissance Center station was closed for massive reconstruction. On November 7, 2011, the fare was raised to $0.75. On January 7, 2014, the entire loop was shut down due to extremely low temperatures. The first recorded derailment occurred on January 22, 2015 at Times Square.
Cobo Center station opened in November 1988 after enough work had been completed on the complex's addition. The People Mover would temporarily shut down after a portion of the track along Farmer Street was severely damaged during the implosion of the former Hudson's department store building on October 24, 1998, though it would resume service in January 1999 with two bidrectional lines, each operating with one train: a Red Line from Times Square to Millender Center and a Green Line from Greektown to Cobo Center, forcing passengers wishing to travel between Times Square and Greektown to transfer midway. In August 1999, the Red and Green Lines would be cut back to Michigan and Bricktown stations respectively due to construction. Full-loop service was restored in November 1999, though Grand Circus Park and Greektown remained closed (the former due to the closure of the David Whitney Building and the latter due to the construction of the adjacent Greektown Casino).


===Return to counter-clockwise operation===
Greektown reopened in January 2000 after the Greektown Casino was completed, and the April 2001 reopening of Grand Circus Park (following modifications to allow access directly from the sidewalk on Park Avenue) restored service to every station on the People Mover. This would only last for just over a year, as Renaissance Center closed in September 2002 due to extensive remodeling commencing on the Renaissance Center complex, forcing the People Mover to revert to bidirectional running, with a single line operating between Bricktown and Millender Center with one train per direction, utilizing a passing track located between the Times Square and Michigan stations. The People Mover resumed full-loop service once again in September 2004, with a fully reconstructed Renaissance Center station opening two months later.
On December 23 and 26, 2019, the People Mover temporarily reverted back to it's pre-2008 counter-clockwise operation as a test. After this test was successful, additional counter-clockwise tests will be conducted on each weekend in February 2020, with the exception of the weekend of February 22-23 during the Nation of Islam Saviours’ Day Convention. Effective March 1, 2020, the People Mover permanently reverted back to counter-clockwise operation.
 
===Switch to clockwise operation, then return to counter-clockwise operation===
Originally operating counter-clockwise around the downtown area, following an August 2008 shutdown for construction work, the People Mover switched to clockwise running. On November 7, 2011, the fare was raised to $0.75. On January 7, 2014, the entire loop was shut down due to extremely low temperatures. The first recorded derailment occurred on January 22, 2015 at Times Square.
 
In August 2019, Cobo Center station was renamed Convention Center after TCF Bank bought the naming rights for Cobo Center itself and renamed it TCF Center. On December 23 and 26, 2019, the People Mover temporarily reverted back to its original counter-clockwise operation as a test. After this test was successful, additional counter-clockwise tests were conducted on each weekend in February 2020, with the exception of the weekend of February 22-23 during the Nation of Islam Saviours’ Day Convention. Effective March 1, 2020, the People Mover permanently reverted back to counter-clockwise operation, though after only three weeks, the People Mover would shut down for over two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The People Mover would reopen in May 2022 with service to a limited amount of stations, including Convention Center, which was renamed again to Huntington Place (along with the complex itself) following Huntington Bank's acquisition of TCF Bank the previous year, and Joe Louis Arena, which was renamed to West Riverfront to better reflect its location on the downtown Detroit riverfront and its proximity to the Riverfront Towers after Joe Louis Arena itself was closed in 2017 and demolished in 2020. Additional stations would reopen in the year ahead, with the last station, Times Square, reopening on June 26, 2023.


==Roster==
==Roster==
Line 48: Line 54:
|[[Urban Transportation Development Corporation Intermediate Capacity Transit System|ICTS MK I]]
|[[Urban Transportation Development Corporation Intermediate Capacity Transit System|ICTS MK I]]
|
|
*Six units (three pairings) are active.
*All feature full exterior advertisement wraps.
*All feature full exterior advertisement wraps.
*Operates in two-car sets.
*Operates in two-car sets.
*11-12 are retired.
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Advertisement Wraps|List of full exterior advertisement wraps]]
|- align="center"
|(12 units)
|
|1982-1984
|[[Urban Transportation Development Corporation|UTDC]]
|[[Urban Transportation Development Corporation Intermediate Capacity Transit System|ICTS MK I]]
|Ex-[[Toronto Transit Commission|TTC]] [[Toronto Transit Commission 3000-3027|30xx]], purchased December 2023, most likely for parts.<ref>[https://www.thepeoplemover.com/about-us/company-profile-mission Board of Directors December 2023 meeting agenda], Detroit Transportation Corporation.</ref>
|}
|}


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*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Michigan Avenue Station|Michigan Avenue Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Michigan Avenue Station|Michigan Avenue Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Fort/Cass Station|Fort/Cass Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Fort/Cass Station|Fort/Cass Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Convention Center Station|Huntington Place Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Huntington Place Station|Huntington Place Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Joe Louis Arena Station|West Riverfront Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation West Riverfront Station|West Riverfront Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Financial District Station|Financial District Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Financial District Station|Financial District Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Millender Center Station|Millender Center Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]
*[[Detroit Transportation Corporation Millender Center Station|Millender Center Station]][[Image:Accessible.gif]]

Latest revision as of 19:24, 5 April 2024

Detroit People Mover 2024 logo-a.png
Headquarters 535 Griswold Street,
Detroit, MI 48226
Area served Detroit, MI
Founded October 4, 1985
Fleet size 10 railcars

The Detroit People Mover is a one-way, one-track elevated, light-rail, rapid transit loop that circulates around downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States, originally intended to be incorporated into a regional rapid transit system. It is operated by the Detroit Transportation Corporation, a city of Detroit agency that is completely separate from the Detroit Department of Transportation. It has 13 stations, is 2.9 miles long and was opened in 1987.

History

[1] [2]

Planning and construction

A typical People Mover consist.

In the mid-1970s, the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority began planning a rapid transit system for metropolitan Detroit, which was to include a Woodward Avenue subway line, which would be underground from downtown north to McNichols Road and elevated from McNichols northward to Pontiac, that would terminate in an elevated downtown loop. During this time, Ontario crown corporation Urban Transportation Development Corporation was working on a light rapid transit project dubbed the Intermediate Capacity Transit System, which was designed to be lighter, smaller and cheaper than a conventional subway yet had the ability to run more frequently and have higher capacities than a streetcar. On August 5, 1981, SEMTA signed a contract with UTDC to use the ICTS on the Woodward subway.

Construction on the elevated downtown loop, which would become the People Mover, began in 1983, but by then, several destinations the loop had intended to serve had vanished. Work never began on the subway portion along Woodward, however. As a channel for federal grants, SEMTA was to oversee construction of the line, which was estimated to cost $137 million. The project, however, was plagued by numerous mismanagement problems and mishaps and nearly $66 million in massive cost overruns were projected, so much to the point that the federal government threatened to cease all funding for the rest of the project. In March 1985, with the project still incomplete, SEMTA agreed with then-mayor Coleman A. Young to transfer final completion and operation of the project over to the city of Detroit. This transaction was completed on October 4, 1985. Thus, the Detroit Transportation Corporation was formed to oversee the operation of the People Mover.

The People Mover was ultimately opened to the public on July 31, 1987 with twelve stations across downtown Detroit (excluding Cobo Center as construction on that complex's northern expansion was still in progress), becoming the last of the three ICTS systems that went into operation (and the only one in the United States); after the SkyTrain in Vancouver opened in 1983 with a short section of track and one station and then commenced full operations in December 1985; and the Scarborough RT in Toronto, which also opened in 1985. Free rides on the system were offered to the public during the first eight days of service, with a $0.50 fare going into effect on August 8.

First two decades

Cobo Center station opened in November 1988 after enough work had been completed on the complex's addition. The People Mover would temporarily shut down after a portion of the track along Farmer Street was severely damaged during the implosion of the former Hudson's department store building on October 24, 1998, though it would resume service in January 1999 with two bidrectional lines, each operating with one train: a Red Line from Times Square to Millender Center and a Green Line from Greektown to Cobo Center, forcing passengers wishing to travel between Times Square and Greektown to transfer midway. In August 1999, the Red and Green Lines would be cut back to Michigan and Bricktown stations respectively due to construction. Full-loop service was restored in November 1999, though Grand Circus Park and Greektown remained closed (the former due to the closure of the David Whitney Building and the latter due to the construction of the adjacent Greektown Casino).

Greektown reopened in January 2000 after the Greektown Casino was completed, and the April 2001 reopening of Grand Circus Park (following modifications to allow access directly from the sidewalk on Park Avenue) restored service to every station on the People Mover. This would only last for just over a year, as Renaissance Center closed in September 2002 due to extensive remodeling commencing on the Renaissance Center complex, forcing the People Mover to revert to bidirectional running, with a single line operating between Bricktown and Millender Center with one train per direction, utilizing a passing track located between the Times Square and Michigan stations. The People Mover resumed full-loop service once again in September 2004, with a fully reconstructed Renaissance Center station opening two months later.

Switch to clockwise operation, then return to counter-clockwise operation

Originally operating counter-clockwise around the downtown area, following an August 2008 shutdown for construction work, the People Mover switched to clockwise running. On November 7, 2011, the fare was raised to $0.75. On January 7, 2014, the entire loop was shut down due to extremely low temperatures. The first recorded derailment occurred on January 22, 2015 at Times Square.

In August 2019, Cobo Center station was renamed Convention Center after TCF Bank bought the naming rights for Cobo Center itself and renamed it TCF Center. On December 23 and 26, 2019, the People Mover temporarily reverted back to its original counter-clockwise operation as a test. After this test was successful, additional counter-clockwise tests were conducted on each weekend in February 2020, with the exception of the weekend of February 22-23 during the Nation of Islam Saviours’ Day Convention. Effective March 1, 2020, the People Mover permanently reverted back to counter-clockwise operation, though after only three weeks, the People Mover would shut down for over two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The People Mover would reopen in May 2022 with service to a limited amount of stations, including Convention Center, which was renamed again to Huntington Place (along with the complex itself) following Huntington Bank's acquisition of TCF Bank the previous year, and Joe Louis Arena, which was renamed to West Riverfront to better reflect its location on the downtown Detroit riverfront and its proximity to the Riverfront Towers after Joe Louis Arena itself was closed in 2017 and demolished in 2020. Additional stations would reopen in the year ahead, with the last station, Times Square, reopening on June 26, 2023.

Roster

Typical interior layout of 01-12.
Fleet number(s) Thumbnail Year Manufacturer Model Notes
01-12 Detroit Transportation Corporation 06-a.jpg 1986 UTDC ICTS MK I
(12 units) 1982-1984 UTDC ICTS MK I Ex-TTC 30xx, purchased December 2023, most likely for parts.[3]

Stations

The current map of the People Mover.

References

  1. ↑ Motor Coach Age October-December 2003 edition
  2. ↑ People Mover 25 Years-Old Today! - DSR-2-DOT Yahoo Group (broken link)
  3. ↑ Board of Directors December 2023 meeting agenda, Detroit Transportation Corporation.

External links

v·d·e
Detroit People Mover 2024 logo-a.png
Fleet 01-12
Stations Times Square, Michigan Avenue, Fort/Cass, Huntington Place, West Riverfront, Financial District, Millender Center, Renaissance Center, Bricktown, Greektown, Cadillac Center, Broadway, Grand Circus Park
Ad Wraps List
Detroit Area Transit Agencies
Ann Arbor
Port Huron
Chatham-Kent
Detroit bus
Detroit People Mover
Monroe
Leamington
Detroit M-1 Rail
Detroit M-1 Rail
RTA
Sarnia
Detroit suburbs
 Tecumseh
Windsor
University of Michigan
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