Riding the bus in Metro-Detroit: Lunch in Birmingham Edition

This video follows a rider traveling from Keego Harbor, Michigan to Birmingham, Michigan. It explains the problem of communities opting out of public transportation. This option creates what the "Detroit Free Press" calls "ridiculous doughnut holes in public service." It also illustrates the demise of the once extensive public transportation system in metro-Detroit.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Michigan
• Keego
• Harbor
• Pontiac
• Bloomfield
• Hills
• Birmingham
• Cranbrook
• SMART
• bus
• mass
• transportation

[tyrese224]

Great video! I worked at a day camp at Cranbrook a few years ago and took the Telegraph bus from Taylor, MI and got off at Telegraph and Lone Pine. What was interesting to me was that not only were not not a lot of bus stops on the route, but also there were few sidewalks. On my 2 mile walk, I often had to walk along the side of busy roads or on people's lawns, which was uncomfortable. Just another problem with accessibility and walkability in these wealthier neighborhoods. Opt in, OC!

[eliantoi]

cool Buz!

[pamgaeta]

Great message, great video, Buzz. It's inspiring to imagine the positive impact --on growth, on community, on quality of life--of a really good public transportation system here in greater Detroit. Glad that some really dedicated people are "on it."

[br1an1ip5on]

Thanks for doing this, Buzz. The problem with communities opting out isn't that it's inefficient, but that it's systematic. It's a response to poorer (and usually darker) people from Detroit wanting to come to the suburbs by bus. As a kid I worked at Burger King West Bloomfield, and everyone but me was from Detroit. They told me that BK paid $2 more per hour in WB than in Detroit. No wonder people would want a bus, and what a shame that people's response has been to try to exclude them.