Detroit Mayor Focuses On Transportation

In a speech on January 12, 2007 to the Economic Club of Detroit, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick focused particular attention on regional transportation.

Specifically, Kilpatrick indicated he would like to focus efforts on two proposed light rail systems, one between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and the second between Detroit and Pontiac. As some might recall, the Detroit People Mover was originally intended to be served by a Detroit-Pontiac light rail system, which was to feed riders to the loop transit system within the downtown Detroit area.

In addition, Kilpatrick indicated he would seek to form a committee to study regional transit. Those who have already expressed an interest in participating are: (a) Atanas Ilitch, the head of Olympia Development, who organized the successful 2006 Foxtown Tigers Train promotion for the Detroit Tigers, incorporating rail and bus transit to boost Tigers attendance; (b) Chris Ilitch, brother of Atanas, and President of Ilitch Holdings, Inc., the holding company for Little Caesars, Olympia Entertainment, Olympia Development, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Detroit Tigers; (c) Roger Penske, owner of, among other entities, United Auto Group, the head of the Super Bowl Organizing Committee, and the chairman of the board of the Downtown Detroit Partnership; and (d) Dan Gilbert, the head of Quicken Loans, a company the City has been attempting to lure downtown for over a year.