Op-Ed: Detroit's QLINE Is 'At Times an Embarrassment'

Randy Essex details why it is that "rely" isn't a word that comes to mind for many Detroiters when they think about downtown's QLINE streetcar system.

1 minute read

November 27, 2019, 7:00 AM PST

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc

A Healthier Michigan / Flickr

Detroit's QLINE streetcar system may have opened in 2017, but it still isn't as reliable as "the 30-year-old, rattly, squeaky, dependable People Mover," Randy Essex writes. And that's a problem, because "this matters to continued progress in restoring the vitality of the city core."

As a case in point, Essex cites a recent Lions game in which QLINE trains took more than thirty minutes to arrive. "While that's a high-traffic time, it's also exactly the sort of event during which the trains should be packed and people should be able to count on a reliable alternative to personal vehicles."

Living in or visiting the city core becomes easier and more pleasant when people can get around without a car, Essex writes. But as it stands, "serious attention, not incremental tweaking, is needed to keep the QLINE from being a white elephant rumbling up and down the city's fabled main drag, the butt of jokes like the People Mover — though the latter is, in fact, quite reliable."

FULL STORY: Get serious about fixing the QLINE or admit that it's just for show

Thursday, November 21, 2019 in The Detroit Free Press

Infrastructure Transportation Michigan Detroit Downtown Detroit QLINE Streetcars People Mover Transit Public Transit Transit Reliability Detroit People Mover View More

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