Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter rail plan takes shape

The proposed commuter rail line between Detroit and Ann Arbor continues to build consensus amongst local municipalities; a public meeting on the logistics will be held in February.

Excerpt:

The governments council was hoping to use a $100-million federal grant
to study and develop the [light] rail line. But after conducting a $3-million
study of five options for the route, the agency found that there
weren’t enough riders to support the line — only between 600 and 6,000
passengers daily depending on the option. And it carried a price tag
ranging from $600 million to $3 billion to construct and $25 million to
$110 million a year to operate.

The disappointing results didn’t meet the criteria set by the Federal
Transit Administration to qualify for the $100 million. But that
doesn’t mean the money is lost forever, [director of transportation programs for SEMCOG Carmine] Palombo said. The plan with
Amtrak would last three years and be used to show that there is enough
interest in the commuter train for the area to qualify for the federal
money.

Read the entire article here.