What is Digg?106 Comments
- kcb2, on 02/14/2008, -2/+30Knowing the economy in Michigan and the mind-set of the "Motor City", this will not see the light of day. The elected officials are already in the Big 3's pockets and with the automotives having such hard times, it will be tough to justify the cost of this at the expense of existing businesses in the area.
- DigitalHippie73, on 02/14/2008, -1/+21I live in Michigan and visit Ann Arbor a lot. I think this is a great idea and AA is known for being a "green" city, so if anyone can make it work...
- chrispeters, on 02/14/2008, -0/+17I just looked at the homepage for the project ( http://www.interstatetraveler.us/ ) website, and now I want to cut out my eyes.
- rynTAU, on 02/14/2008, -0/+14Doesn't "interstate" mean "between states" ? What state is this connecting?
- mille716, on 02/14/2008, -1/+13But can it ever match the stirring success of Detroit's People Mover?
- DiggasWAttitude, on 02/14/2008, -1/+13Monorail, Monorail, Monorail...
- Ro4ddog, on 02/14/2008, -0/+11Buried for inaccuracies. There is no way that this is going to happen. Not only do I live in Michigan and have lived here for several years, but I work at a news station and am keenly aware of the goings-on and activities in regards to our state. Economically, something like this isn't feasible for MI to implement. Construction is NOT beginning on this any time soon, as there hasn't been any formal discussion or talks about funding within the Michigan legislature. (Unless it's going to be privately funded. Yeah. Right.) If there had been, the public would have known about this and would have protested loudly. We need jobs in our fair state, not a state-of-the-art maglev. I defy someone to find one other legitimate source that discusses the planning, scheduling or implementation of this in Michigan or anywhere else in the US for that matter.
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -2/+9lol this will never happen
- xtc46, on 02/14/2008, -1/+8actually "interstate" means federally funded. for example, here in hawaii we have interstates.
- amiches, on 02/14/2008, -0/+630 years ago, when it was at record highs.
You're seeing a market shift as we speak. 10 years from now, transportation will be wildly different. Mark my words. - fishbert, on 02/14/2008, -1/+6And next week, on "If Money Were No Option"...
- spyd3rweb, on 02/14/2008, -0/+5"What do you get when you combine the innovation of MagLev technology with solar power, hydrogen fuel, and a futuristic aesthetic?"
Something Michigan can't afford. - bbkingadrock, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4Buried as inaccurate. It's vaporware. As a Michigan resident, there is absolutely zero talk or coverage of this in local media. On their news page, the most recent update is from September 21, 2006 from a small Florida newspaper.
- Gigs, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4I'll believe it when I see it in the Detroit Free Press. If theres one thing Detroit isn't, its green.
- cgm1985, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4MONO- d'oh!
- jimmiss, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4It's a Certified Bonified Monorail!!!
- rangermatt, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4Is there a chance the track could bend?
- johnn11238, on 02/14/2008, -0/+4Wow. As a Michigan native, I find this mind-boggling. I cannot think of another place in the nation less likely to have ANY sort of mass transit system. When I lived there, if your car died, you starved to death.
- rocketman42, on 02/14/2008, -1/+4Sounds interesting, although I can't find a cost anywhere. And statements like this "The entire conduit cluster operations would be managed by TCP/IP technology." make me think this is not ready to be built next year.
- Baxattax, on 02/14/2008, -0/+3What'd I say?
Monorail!
What's it called?
Monorail!
That's right! Monorail!
mo-no-rail....mo-no-rail.....MO-NO-RAIL! - Hypomanic, on 02/14/2008, -1/+4Fake. When they said it was breaking ground next year I almost laughed. An environmental feasibility study for something of this magnitude would take years. Investor beware.
- korea, on 02/14/2008, -0/+3That is pretty exciting. I am originally from Michigan but now work in Chicago and absolutely love the public transportation options.
- Jergens, on 02/14/2008, -0/+3But I LIKE going to Greektown, Joe Louis, the RenCen, Greektown, Joe Louis, the Rencen, Greektown, Joe Louis and the Ren Cen!!!
- pilot3033, on 02/14/2008, -0/+3I disagree, we just don't have any good examples here in the US. The only reasonable one I can think of is NYC. The city is connected to it's suburbs by 3 commuter rail lines going into 2 different mass transit hubs, which then connect to a comprehensive subway system. Bikes are very common as well, and many bike to their commuter rail station, and then bike to work from one of the transit hubs.
Systems in Europe work like this too, expansive commuter rail that connects to the big city, where folks can then walk or bike to their destination.
We've just become so obsessed with cars, and our own 'personal space' that the idea of actually getting on a train with *gasp* OTHER PEOPLE is absurd unless you "can't afford" anything else.
I guarantee if you funded expansion for Amtrak, including MagLev, or other high speed options, and expanded the rail lines up to main and down to Atlanta, you would see incredible usage. NYC-Atlanta in 3 hours can become a rail reality, and make our lives a whole ***** easier.
Don't even get me started on the west coast... - dn11, on 02/14/2008, -0/+3BART is a good example of an excellent system in the US IMO - not perfect but improving all the time
- factory81, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2I was going to say..I live in Michigan and I don't see this happening more or less on the Detroit side...
Ann Arbor is plenty progressive, but Detroit isn't going to fund anything like this. Hell the state was in a budget crisis and state of emergency and now we're buying this? - xtc46, on 02/14/2008, -1/+3I tired to mark your words with my pen...but when I scroll down your words move but the mark doesn't. YOU TRICKED ME!
- imacmike, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2This is the future I always believed science was supposed bring, however these things never seem to make it out of the planning stages. Now where the hell did I park my solar powered hover car?
- inactive, on 02/14/2008, -1/+3MrBabyMan has 4 stories on the front page currently. Buried each and every one of them.
- xtc46, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2lol...but the TCP/IP!
I think the writer was just flakey..or at least hope so. - A2TrueBlue, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2Okay, I agree that this is a bit of a stretch to read at first and this is the first I have heard of anything even though I live in Ann Arbor but I wouldn't exactly dismiss it as easily as some people are. With the auto industry going down the ***** lately our governor (Jennifer Granholm - D) has been very vocal in her efforts to steer "green-collar" companies to Michigan. I could definitely see a project like this being a great start and talking point by connecting two key areas of a "green corridor" not to mention DTW would be right in the center of the route providing easy access to either city. You have to start somewhere don't you?
I think the parent is a little short-sighted saying that "The elected officials are already in the Big 3's pockets". When the majority of people that you support are connected to a single industry that happens to be struggling it is your JOB as an elected official to help those companies out to save the JOBS of your constituents. Our state government has actually realized this for the last few years which is why they actively push for solar tech companies to come to the state just as much as the newest Honda factories.
Now if you'll excuse me there is snow to shovel outside and it is ***** cold. - kcb2, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2The mindset in the Motor City is that everybody loves their car and drives everywhere they go. People here in Metro Detroit either work for an automotive company (or supplier) or has direct family that does. Most vehicles on the road are less than 5 years old, and a good portion of them are gas guzzlers (muscle cars or SUVs). Cars are status symbols - public transportation just doesn't do well in a city where people are proud of the vehicles they make/drive.
The peoplemover is the biggest joke in Detroit. It was the result of a corrupt mayor that spent way too much money on a limited destination public transit. It really only gets you to a handful of places directly downtown. There are several close suburbs that have great nightlife and shopping, but the only public transit option is the bus.
Ann Arbor is great - very progressive and one of the greenest cities in the country - but this project is connecting it to one of the worst places to live in the country (rated by Forbes in Feb. 2008). - johnn11238, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2Buried for inacuracy. Notice the use of the word "would". As is "if it ever happens, it WOULD".
Never. Gonna. Happen. - employeeno5, on 02/14/2008, -0/+2If it's only in Michigan than it's intrastate not interstate. An interstate does just that; goes between multiple states. Anything else is just a state highway.
- user500, on 02/14/2008, -2/+3seems to be a cash cow for special interest. It would be cheaper to give them the cash to go away.
- crimson138, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1Yeah, if this happened we wouldn't have to take out 10 year fixed rate loan for a cab from Ann Arbor to DTW every time we need to fly somewhere.
- bshensky, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1Hey @t0nic! Nice work. I did some of my own timewasting and found this:
http://www.acsa.net/hshrt/
Long story short - sounds like a scam to extract $15 million dollars per mile from stoopid investors.
Never mind the fact that the whole venture dates back 3 years - and there's been zero talk since.
I want interurban rail between AA and Detroit like every other like-minded greenie, but $h!t like this gets me angry. - RobotBuddha, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1It's amazing how many people have left Michigan. I moved away pretty early in my life as well, and returned recently for the first time in about seven years. I was amazed at how bad even Lansing was doing. Ann Arbor still seemed to be doing as well as when I'd left. But Flint, which hadn't been doing well even then, was just depressing. Just occurred to me that I didn't check on how Gains was fairing. Really a pity because I love the geography of the state. I don't think I've ever stopped missing the great lakes. Every time I hear about something like this I start to get my hopes up. It's really sad to see somewhere you grew up slowly fall. Even more so when there are things that could help, but where the money and public backing just aren't there.
- mattsadd, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1The sad thing is, the amount of money Detroit's fraud mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has squandered over the course of his terms, especially in the past couple of years, would probably pay for a good part of this project.
- ferrum999, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1I'm another Michigander and this sounds like a bunch of crap. The artist renditions are amateurish and the idea is being introduced on a webpage. I've not seen any of this in any local paper - I'm pretty sure I'd know if they were building a new rail system in my backyard.
*article buried. - RobotBuddha, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1Amusingly, Ann Arbor is one of the few towns there where it's not the case. Small town, stores everywhere, plentiful sidewalks, and a pretty nice bus system. It'd be number one on my list of Michigan towns that could benefit from it least. Well, except during games when traffic slows down to feet per hour.
- Jason4000, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1We need numbers. Not sketches.
- Bodhinature, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1And how much support is this getting on the Federal level? Leave it to local government to think progressively. Anarchy, baby.
- starkruzr, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1Bet you 5 bucks it doesn't.
- jpmorgan13, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1Michigan should be spending it's money elsewhere. This is ridiculous. First, they waste 500 mil on tv and radio commercials to bring people to the state which resulted in zero progress. Now they take up an initiative that only helps people living along the line. Whether it is by car or train, I still wouldn't go to downtown detroit without a kevlar vest.
- Jergens, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1A few years ago, a consortium of local governments did a study on a light rail from Ann Arbor to Detroit and found out that no one would use it. The only people who would use it daily are those who worked and lived directly along the line. Without a proper bus system (SMART is horrible) or walkable areas, who would take it? Detroit is a big, spread out, suburbanized city. Only a small fraction would find it useful.
Put it this way, I live in a city (Allen Park) that would be directly upon this route and I find it hard to think of when I would use this rail, except maybe to go to a sporting event in the city. Or to a U of M football game in Ann Arbor. - ryan83189, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1so hackers really might be able to derail trains!!!!!!!!!
- ryan83189, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1my browser crashed loading the marque.
- aaron4, on 02/14/2008, -0/+1wow, are those clipart gifs? i didnt know those still existed.
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