Transportation
With its proximity to Canada and its facilities, ports, major highways, rail connections and international airports, Detroit is an important transportation hub. There are three international border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Michigan Central Railway Tunnel, linking Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. Some 35 percent of U.S. trade with Canada passes through Detroit. The Ambassador Bridge is the nation's busiest border crossing, carrying 27 percent of the total trade between the U.S. and Canada.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the area's principal airport, is located in nearby Romulus and is a hub for Northwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines. Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET), previously called Detroit City Airport, is on Detroit's northeast side. Although Southwest Airlines once flew from the airport, there is currently only charter service. Toledo Express Airport in Toledo, Ohio, is a secondary commercial passenger airport. Willow Run Airport, in far-western Wayne County near Ypsilanti is a general aviation and cargo airport.
Detroit is the crossroads for three Interstate Highways: I-94 (Edsel Ford Freeway), I-96 (Edward Jeffries Freeway), and I-75 (Fisher and Chrysler Freeways). I-696 (Walter Reuther Freeway) serves the northern suburbs, while I-275 serves the western suburbs and I-375 is a short extension of the Chrysler Freeway. Other major routes are the John C. Lodge Freeway (M-10), the Southfield Freeway (M-39) and the Davison Freeway (M-8). Detroit and surrounding close suburbs are also served by a square grid network of major arterial roads.
Detroit is also connected via Interstate 94 to Kings Highway 401 and to major Southern Ontario cities such as London, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area along Highway 401. Upon construction and completion of a third border crossing, Detroit and the surrounding area would have a third direct link to the 400-Series freeway network, and have a direct connection to Kings Highway 401, eliminating (or greatly diminishing) the traffic jams that plague the Ambassador Bridge, and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
The Detroit Area is conidered the largest metropolitan region in the United States without rapid-transit service. An estimated 1.6 million residents commute daily, amounting to an average of 41 hours spent in traffic. However, a minute fraction of these commuters utilize a means of transportation other than travel by car. As a result, according to the Congestion Burden Index, a report compiled by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, Detroit ranked as third worst for traffic congestion in the nation, behind only Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Other similar reports consistently rank Detroit in the top ten nationwide for worst traffic.
Mass transit in the city functions in two separate spheres of influence. Bus services are provided by the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT), which terminates at the outer edges of the suburbs. Services in the suburbs are provided by the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART). Combining the systems has been problematic and tainted by the racial politics that has affected all aspects of city–suburban relationships. Cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit is provided by Transit Windsor via the Tunnel Bus.
An automated guideway transit system known as the People Mover provides a 2.9 mile (4.6 km) loop in the downtown area and usually operates daily. Amtrak provides service to Detroit, operating its Wolverine service between Chicago, and Pontiac. Baggage cannot be checked at this location; however, up to two suitcases in addition to any "personal items" such as briefcases, purses, laptop bags, and infant equipment are allowed on board as carry-ons. The current passenger facility is north of downtown. The J.W. Westcott II, which delivers mail to freighters on the Detroit River, is the world's only floating post office.
Currently, a study is underway to investigate the feasibility of a Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter line, which would service the nearly 100,000 daily commuters between the two regional hubs. The proposed system would be funded by a $100 million federal grant that is secured based on the results of the study.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
