For those readers who don’t get across the river often, and spend time in downtown Detroit, work is progressing nicely on the M1 streetcar line that will run along Woodward Avenue from downtown to the New Center area.
After so long without, it looks interesting to see the rails embedded in Woodward Avenue. Streetcars can make a return. For more information on the project, visit the website here -> http://m-1rail.com/
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If Detroit with all its financial troubles can do it why not us too??
Will this become another people mover? Way over budget, under used, from downtown to new center, for what? Detroit used to run trolley cars from Tunnel exit to Cass Av., dropped because lost too much money.
If Windsor had street cars where would they run? What route in Windsor would make sense to tear up the road to lay track, and at what cost? This is not Toronto we would have to pay our own way. Nostalgia is nice but sometimes to costly.
I find this so exciting to see the revival of light rail transit/street cars in Detroit. I feel as though if they can do it, any city can do it!
I believe it would be entirely possible and feasible for Windsor to adopt the technology provided it is done in a sensible and orderly manner.
A route along University and/or Wyandotte from the University of Windsor to the downtown area thus connecting the main campus to the downtown campus sites would be a good start. Connection to the bus terminal and the VIA station with a loop near the Casino would also be a good route.
The work could be done with planning and accomplished when the city replaces infrastructure whether is be sewers, water lines or pavement thus avoiding additional costs.
The streetcars themselves could be of a design that permit operating on battery power thus avoiding the need for overhead wires. Running these on battery could take advantage of 'surplus' electricity generated by wind and solar. Wind and solar currently have no means of storing power and with battery powered streetcars this inefficiency would be addressed.
I am sure the technology is here. All is needed is willingness, discussion and a plan.
There's a ton of private funding involved with this project.
Detroit is building two and a half mile line, at a tremendous price, what you mention is thee to four times longer, also 40 to 50 foot cars on track have a greater turning radius than a bus. The cost to Detroit is millions of dollars per mile.
Richard, the M-1 is 3.3 miles. It may and likely has lots of private funding behind it. Its purpose is to serve the expanding commercial enterprise along its route. So I don't understand your argument. As for car size... what is the relevance? Windsor currently runs full size busses and if you look closely, most of the time there are but a handful of riders. The rail system could use trolley sized vehicles and run there using battery power if necessary. There would be advantages to such a system. Also, construction could be done in phases.... install the rails when reconstructing road surfaces for sewer and water line replacement. In other words, a whole package approach. This may take years to achieve and link the segments but in time would prove beneficial. Or we could just continue running large empty busses, complain of lack of progress and a dead downtown core.