The Chicago “L” Overlaid On The City Of Detroit

March 9, 2012 | 10:57 AM | By Dustin Dwyer
FILED UNDER: Communities, Innovation, bus, Chicago L, Detroit, L, light rail, People Mover, Rail, streetcar, transit

The Chicago L route map overlaid on the city of Detroit. Credit: reddit user northsider1983

What would it look like if you took a platoon of helicopters and airlifted the entire Chicago L system and dropped it on Detroit? It would look like the map you see above. The map was made by a reddit user, who goes by the handle “northsider1983.”

The map gives a sense of the scale of both cities, and their very different transit options. Detroit, of course, doesn’t have a rail system. It has the People Mover, which covers all of 2.9 miles. It’s pretty arguable whether Detroit even has a functioning bus system these days (though there was a time when Detroit’s streetcar system was far more extensive than today’s L).

But Detroit’s transit dreams still have some life left in them. Businessman Dan Gilbert said again this week that he expects the new light rail line along Woodward Ave. “will be in the ground by the end of this calendar year.”

  • http://quetwo.com/ Nick Kwiatkowski

    And that doesn’t even count the expansive METRA system that connects communities as far as 45 miles away from the L system… There should be /no/ reason why the only way to get to downtown Detroit from locations like Lansing or Flint is via car.  No bus or rail service between these communities to speak of.

  • MX5Bob

    The map is missing the line that runs southwest from downtown to Midway Airport. 

    • James McBroom

      it’s there, it just has the same color as the freeways.

  • D. Mucci

    I’m really tired of hearing about Detroit’s proposed “light rail”
    system as it’s such a small scale endeavor that might actually make
    things worse. Much like the DPM, creating this streetcar that runs from
    New Center to Hart Plaza won’t be used for majority of the time by
    anyone who isn’t a downtown resident (which is a fraction of the Detroit
    metro
    population).
    These streetcars are also confined to a single lane (by rail or power
    line) & shared by autos. Both modes will be able to obstruct each
    others movement;
    the pile-ups are unavoidable. It seems the most efficient action would
    be to extend the DPM to New Center, broadening the scope of existing
    infrastructure
    & allowing movement even when roads are blocked (as they are during
    ballgames, concerts, etc). And for further-reaching commutes, Buses (if
    not “Heavy rail”) would be far more effective in that
    they aren’t confined to a designated lane/area, as well as being capable
    of moving around road obstructions & re-routing. Providing
    (integrated) transportation options (commuter rail, bike lanes, well
    maintained roads, etc) is a big part of drawing in new business & a
    vital workforce; a quaint trolley car just won’t cut it. I’m a strong
    advocate for extensive public transport but just don’t see LRT as
    qualifying. However, if implemented it will prevent any viable plans
    from ever manifesting.

  • AAreader

    This is what can result when corruption thrives by working FOR a city instead of against it or not at all.

  • Guest

     

    Nobody
    in Detroit refers to it as the People Mover, everyone refers to it as the Mugger mover. One other point Detroit makes cars
    why would install a system that cuts into those sales, That would be like the
    city of Redmond, WA installing Apple computers.  

     

    • Jmunro7

       People would still buy cars, even if they have access to good mass transit.  This question is not a matter of either/or.  Start thinking both/and think of the possible results: reduced congestion on the highways, and you still have a car to go to Chicago for big-city amenities.  Or you could take the allegedly improved Amtrak to Chicago….

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5M5LQRF2YI7VBW2MERDEU7REZA Danny D

       ”Mugger Mover”? If by “mugger”, you mean Red Wings fans on game night, then yes.

    • Guest

      Detroit needs to change with the times and find new ways to bring people and businesses to the city and state. Yes we will always be the “Motor CIty” but what happens after ALL the manufacturing leaves our factories? We’ve already seen the effect from it. We can’t be so closed-minded and still think cars are Detroit’s only resource. 

  • http://twitter.com/FrostedBlissNB Frosted Bliss Cakes

    not surprising for a city built by the auto industry that it would not have much public transit.
     

  • Mike

    the main difference being that chicago, unlike detroit, still has a suburban population that’s willing to cross into the city limits. 

    and nobody refers to the people mover as the “mugger mover” unless they’re a suburban douchebag.

  • DJTelang

    Have lived in Detroit all of my 47 years, and never have I heard the term “Mugger Mover”. We on the East Side would love to see something like the L here…whether high speed bus, light rail,or otherwise…

  • Kyle L

    I just really like that the Purple Line (Evanston) is laid over Grosse Point

  • Jmunro7

    I’d still be outside the range of the “Detroit L,” stuck out here in Farmington Hills [hardly the boonies] and needing to get to Connor and I-94 for classes three times a week.

  • Tom

    I lived in Chicago for six years and have now moved to Michigan. I never left my car behind in Chicago…way too impractical and depressing to not have it for chores and trips off the mainlines. But for daily commuting and trips to the Loop it’s worth the cost of a monthly pass, it would be impossible for Chicago to be as tourist or business friendly without it. I work in Lansing, and if there was a Metra style option for getting to Detroit I’d be there all the time on weekends and even weeknights. When I first moved to Chicago in 92 there were MANY parts of the City I wouldn’t go (and there are still some). If Detroit could make the same progress over the next 20 years that Chicago has in the last 20, Detroit would be one of the Midwest’s most popular places to live. Transit is a big part of a big city’s livability.

  • http://campusmartiuschronicle.blogspot.com/ Sean Anthony

    Light Rail Now Citizen’s Group fighting for light rail on M1 Woodward Avenue, in Detroit, MI, USA: 

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Light-Rail-Now/376312425712647
    Twitter:
    https://twitter.com/#!/LightRailNow