Every weekday morning at 7 a.m., a pair of two-car trains emerge from a storage facility in Downtown Detroit to begin a 2.94-mile loop around the neighborhood. After one revolution, during which trains pass landmarks such as the Huntington Place convention center and the Renaissance Center office and hotel complex, the trains make another loop — and then another, and then another, circling downtown until the evening.
Constructed in 1987, the People Mover is an elevated railway that travels one way around Downtown Detroit, making stops at 13 stations along its guideway and taking 15 minutes to make a full revolution.
The once-futuristic rail system is beginning to show its age — its train cars have not been replaced since the system began operation over 35 years ago. However, the People Mover’s life will soon be extended as the system’s operator plans to acquire new rail cars from Toronto — vehicles that employ the same rare and discontinued technology that the People Mover does.
While the People Mover’s rolling stock will be getting an upgrade, these new-to-Detroit trains will serve relatively few people. In the first quarter of 2024, the People Mover carried an average of just 2,700 passengers every weekday — a far cry from the over 67,000 passengers the People Mover was designed to carry.
Part of the reason for the People Mover’s persistent low ridership is that it was never meant to serve as an isolated downtown loop.
“The idea was that it would then connect out to a much larger rapid transit system that brought people downtown and [the People Mover] would just be the circulator once people got downtown,” Megan Owens, executive director of Detroit’s Transportation Riders United, said.
But the larger rapid transit system never came to fruition, bogged down by regional infighting, funding challenges and public skepticism of mass transit. The train system that once proclaimed “We’re Going Where You’re Going” in fact goes very few places.
“The mayor of Detroit said, ‘We need to have a subway up Woodward,’ and the Oakland County leadership said, ‘There’s no way in hell we’re going to support a subway up Woodward.’ And they argued and battled for a long time and could never come to an agreement,” Owens said.
The Ford administration initially pledged $600 million for rapid transit in Metro Detroit in the lead-up to the 1976 presidential election — funding that was withdrawn in the 1980s by the Reagan administration. Nonetheless, with government grant money already in hand, the city went forward with construction on the People Mover, though without a comprehensive network of mass transit to feed into it.
The People Mover was built for a downtown that had lost its role as a major center of retail shopping and commerce by the 1980s. Instead, the system was designed to move tourists and visitors from one landmark destination to another.
Many of its stations are built inside of or are attached to buildings, such as Greektown station, which is connected to the Hollywood Casino, and Millender Center station, which is located inside a large apartment and retail complex. But as Detroit undergoes revitalization, major nodes of activity are moving to places like Campus Martius Park and Little Caesars Arena — areas not directly served by the People Mover.
Before Little Caesars Arena was opened, the Detroit Red Wings played at Joe Louis Arena, which was directly connected to the People Mover via its own station. Owens mentioned that the team moving to a new site a half-mile north of the loop took out a major source of ridership for the system.
But even as downtown changes, the People Mover still has a role in shuttling tourists from one place to another.
“Certainly the convention center is a major trip generator. It’s extremely helpful for people who are coming in for conventions who don’t necessarily know their way around,” Owens said.
The People Mover also helps introduce Motor City residents — known for their love of cars, given the city’s massive automobile industry — to public transportation.
“People who will get on and off the Q-Line [Detroit’s streetcar line] or the People Mover no problem might not consider a bus, but maybe once they’ve been on one, they might [say], ‘Oh, okay, I guess if I can get on and off the Q-Line so easily maybe I’ll try the bus to the airport, maybe I’ll try the bus to Ann Arbor,’ and they start growing in comfort and recognition that there are options,” Owens said.
Transit advocates’ attempts to get Detroiters out of their cars and onto transit were stifled by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led many transit systems to make major service cuts. The People Mover was no exception; it shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened in 2022, offering free fares to attract riders.
Previously, the People Mover only accepted coins or tokens to pay its 75-cent fare — an anachronistic pricing structure in a cashless world of tap-to-pay and inflation that has pushed many transit fares above $2.
“Eliminating that awkward, 75-cent hassle will make it more attractive to people that just hop on and hop off,” Owens said.
But free fares offer little use to riders if the People Mover’s age turns into technical problems, delays and shutdowns — the People Mover has trod its circular path for 34 years, and its infrastructure has begun to wear down. Replacing the current rolling stock with new railcars is also challenging, as the manufacturer that built the People Mover’s cars no longer manufactures the same design.
But a new lease on life from across the border may allow the People Mover to continue — and perhaps increase — service.
In July 2023, the Toronto Transit Commission decommissioned its Line 3 Scarborough. And, luckily for Detroit, Line 3 is one of the few rail lines that uses the same linear induction motor design as the People Mover, meaning that Toronto’s rail cars can run on the People Mover’s tracks.
The Detroit City Council has approved $6 million in funding to buy the now-out-of-service railcars from Toronto to replace Detroit’s aging fleet. This will open the door to more reliable People Mover service and extend the lifespan of the system.
Beyond new rail cars, the system has major track upgrades planned as well. After Labor Day, the system will shut down for 11 weeks to replace its tracks, which are original to its 1987 construction.
City leaders have also signaled support for studying an expansion of the People Mover once the refurbishment of the system is complete.
“We are going to look at modifying the People Mover,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters at the Detroit Policy Conference in January 2024. “A potential reconfiguration to make a downtown neighborhood where you can live, work and play is something we’ll take a look at.”
Owens, however, is more skeptical of the potential benefits of an extension or spur line.
“I know there’s excitement about the idea of expanding it. I personally don’t feel that’s very realistic,” Owens said. “Extending the People Mover for a couple of extra miles would be nearly the same cost as a high-end bus rapid transit system.”
To Owens, the People Mover is a reminder of the downtown of years past, but with new railcars and fare-free service, its utility will last for years to come.
“I mean, would we build the People Mover today as it is now?” Owens said. “Probably not. But, is it still a useful amenity for our city? Absolutely.”
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