For better or for worse, the plan to bring light rail to the city is history…at least for now, anyways.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting the plans were scrapped in favor of a new system of high-speed city and suburban busses.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Detroit Mayor Dave Bing that doubts Detroit could pay operating costs over the long term for the Woodward Light Rail line because of it and the state’s financial problems swayed him against the plan. 

It was a plan that had been four years in the making, and while it’s tough to see it fall through, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely surprised and not all that disappointed. 

The idea to bring light rail and more public transportation to the city is an idea I have loved and supported since all this talk first began. BUT, the reality is that a line that runs solely up and down Woodward and doesn’t cross north of 8 Mile, just isn’t the best use of scarce funds and resources right now.

There’s been much debate about just exactly who this rail line would be benefitting, and many times it was compared to Detroit’s other infamous rail system the People Mover. I’ve personally talked with many people about the plan over the course of the past couple years, and more often than not, they were less than enthused by the idea. Truth be told, the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel the same.

Detroit doesn’t have the money, or the people, or the right amount of business yet. It comes down to the chicken or the egg debate: do you build the rail to bring the people and the businesses? Or do you wait for the people and the businesses and then build the rail?

I think the latter option is going to be the best option going forward. It will be interesting to see how this decision is received around the city and region.

Read the full story here.

Freep