While the powers-that-be continue to draw lines in their little sand boxes regarding the future of transit in Southeast Michigan, some hopeful signs continue to rear their pretty heads around town.
Metromode heard from upstart
The Night Move not too long ago, when the dedicated Woodward Corridor bus shuttle was the subject of a
guest blog by Chris Ramos, its founder, and Jennifer Harlan, its marketing director.
If you read it, you already know that the service runs between Royal Oak and downtown Detroit with a stop in Ferndale -- with the intent of transporting young professional between the places they tend to live and seek entertainment.
The kicker is that the shuttle bus runs on
biodiesel.
This already cool service has just amped it up a notch by connecting with
Michigan
Green Cabs and the
Detroit People Mover to extend the system's -- and yes, this is a kind of transit system, folks -- reach.
Night Move riders can get free DPM tokens from their driver, which gets them onto the downtown loop just steps from the shuttle's drop-off point in Greektown.
On the other end, Night Movers can get discounted cab rides from Michigan Green Cabs -- which boasts the area's first all-hybrid fleet.
While far short of a viable transit system in Metro Detroit, this kind of thing is encouraging on many levels: environmentally, regionally, entrepreneurially...
Another system-extender worth mentioning is that the Detroit Department of Transportation just got a state grant that will allow it to phase in bike racks on all its buses over the next three years. And SMART will be upgrading theirs to enable them to hold three bikes as opposed to two.
Good stuff, all. Now how about that light rail?
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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