This transit fantasy map comes from Mike Weiss who modeled it after the Chicago “L.” Although Detroit had scrapped plans for a subway, the rapid transit planners generally recommended an elevated rail like Chicago’s based on Detroit’s size and dispersed population.
“By using a population density map, I mapped corridors to connect the highest density areas and areas where the lack of density could spur development. Then, using my knowledge of rail transit planning, I planned routes that could operate efficiently end-to-end and where connections between them made the most sense.”
HT @DailyDetroit
DETROITography 
This is a good plan. It hits all the city from east to west and north to south with intersecting tracks to transfer to other lines. This would be great if we could pass a mass transit vote!!
Three things:
1. It should be a monorail or a technology that is as silent as possible. The clack-clacking of an El
is disturbing to the neighborhoods it runs through.
2. Many areas of Detroit, such as Brightmoor, the State Fair area, and the City Airport area, are
abandoned. Here’s hoping that: “if we build it-they will come.”
3. The New York Subway was built, a generation after IT had El trains, as a result of the April
1888 Blizzard which Theodore Roosevelt described. OTOH, their subways got flooded by
Hurricane Sandy. East Harlem developed as a result of the El, West Harlem and the Bronx
followed the Subway lines (except the 3rd Avenue El, closed in 1973, which ran to the South
Bronx in the Late 19th Century.)
4. The Subway lines are continued as Rapid Transit Lines running to Long Island, Westchester,
Connecticut, and the Northern New Jersey suburbs. White Flight followed, so they did not
prevent Blight.
autonomous.. shuttles.. that have swappable interiors that can go through a commercial “dish washer” so they’re always pristine… like a subway .. but unmanned using surface streets.. hardly any infrastructure cost! Ford/GM/Chrysler vehicles… Chevy Bolts, Chrysler Pacific hybrids, and whatever Ford is going to cook up in cork-town!
This map is clearly inspired by New York’s MTA, not Chicago’s CTA.
Each individual subway line is color-coded with a corresponding letter exactly how it is in New York. ie. Q train is yellow, 1 train is red, 7 is purple, B is orange, and so on…
The color of the terrain and water is exactly like the MTA map.
Even the logo is similar to MTA’s.
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