Mass transit for Motor City

From CNN

Can Motor City combat its economic ills by becoming Rail City?

Along Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, a downtown stretch that seems permanently stuck in the “emerging” phase of business development, community leaders are hoping a new light rail system will help spark a renaissance. The city plans to break ground this year on stage one of a $420 million project: the first modern, mass-transit initiative in a city long synonymous with automobiles.

“Transit in Detroit has kind of been a joke,” says Matt Cullen, CEO of M1 Rail, a private consortium heading the development effort. “We’ve been a victim of balkanized politics and other efforts. But now we have a plan in place. We’ll get it done, and we feel it will have a huge impact on this region.”

In most cities, civic cash would pay for major infrastructure projects like a new mass transit system. But in Detroit, which faces a $300 million annual budget deficit, private backers have stepped in to try to kick-start the venture.