Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? According to the conclusions of a recent analysis, potential riders must come before transit links will be developed. A light rail link between Detroit and Ann Arbor was doomed before it even began, because projected riders were less than one-third of the number of riders necessary to make the project financially feasible. (There were not even enough projected riders to make a rapid transit/express bus system feasible.) The possibility of a "premium" bus system rather than light rail across existing freight rail lines was met with displeasure by the Michigan Daily, the daily student newspaper for the University of Michigan.
So, would riders have increased if the link were completed? We may never know, as the chicken and egg syndrome continues to plague Detroit mass transit.
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