From the Detroit Free Press

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing strongly hinted Thursday that the federal government is on board with a proposed $400-million light-rail project on Woodward from downtown to 8 Mile, which aims to stimulate a transit system that has long eluded the city.

“We’ll have the secretary of transportation coming in,” Bing said Thursday morning while taking questions from members of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s young professional group Fusion. “We’ll have a lot of dignitaries coming in. A lot of the political capital that was put into this project will be here. It is going to happen.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s office said it had nothing to confirm about a Detroit visit or the status of the plans. Mayoral spokesman Dan Lijana declined to elaborate but acknowledged the implication from Bing’s comments that the feds may be moving to support the project.

M-1 Rail, a private group working to bring rail to Woodward, has arranged private funding for Woodward rail between Jefferson and the New Center area from business leaders including Roger Penske, Mike and Marian Ilitch, Dan Gilbert and Peter Karmanos, and organizations including the Kresge Foundation and the Downtown Development Authority.

Detroit would be responsible for the portion from the New Center north. The city’s share would be funded mainly through federal dollars.

Officials including M-1 Rail CEO Matt Cullen have said the feds want guarantees that both his group and the City of Detroit could cooperate on the first leg of light rail that ultimately could spur a $10-billion system of light rail, commuter trains and high-speed buses spanning metro Detroit.

Source:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100723/NEWS01/7230383/1320/Bing-hints-U.S.-backing-light-rail-project