Transportation

Splitting her time between the Motor City suburbs and the Mile High City, Metromode's Tanya Muzumdar sees ideas and innovations ripe for importation. Maybe instead of going it alone, Metro Detroit should consider going West for some urban inspiration. (more >)

The Rail Thing, Is Metro Detroit On Track?

By: Tanya Muzumdar, 9/10/2009

If you've never heard of transit-oriented development, it really needs a spot on your hot list. With a transit center planned for Birmingham and Troy, Metro Detroit is back to workin' on the railroad. But maybe the new D Train could take a lesson from the Santa Fe Express. (more >)

Metro Mass Transit - What It Needs

By: Michelle Martinez, 6/11/2009

Regional cooperation. Which, unfortunately, Metro Detroit doesn't have a very good track record with. If light rail and enhanced express buses are to succeed, suburbanites and city slickers are going to have to learn to sit thigh to thigh - physically and metaphorically. (more >)

Smart Cars in Metro Detroit: Still Smart?

By: Tanya Muzumdar, 4/23/2009

Eighteen months ago Metromode checked out the newly arrived Smart Car as one of several new cool commuter options. So how has this sporty new 'wee'-hicle done in the land of hulking Hummers and SUVs? And more importantly, what do Metro Detroiters think of their micro-mini (but ever-so green) purchase? (more >)

Downtown and Underground: Parking is an Art in Ann Arbor

By: Jon Zemke, 4/16/2009

Parking in Southeast Michigan usually means surface lots, driveways and the occasional garage. Ann Arbor's leaders are turning local conventional wisdom on its head, choosing to store cars underground and out of sight as a way to grow development, commerce and urban vibrancy.
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Blog/Megan Owens

Ironically, early auto workers once rode the streetcar to work in factories. This new model year, facing a crumbled rail system and plant closings, the communities of greater Detroit are assembling a regional transit authority. Megan Owens, the executive director of Transportation Riders United, outlines a timeline of transit and what's needed to make the jump from jalopy to streamlined bus service and regional light rail.
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Video/Detroit Bros

Metro Detroit as a design aesthetic? Hell, yeah! Detroit Brothers in Ferndale take the industrial grit of the Motor City and turn it into custom motorcycles coveted the world over. Beautiful, brash and badass, their designs live up to the brothers' slogan: "Good parts for bad people." (more >)