The Joys of Detroit’s Ridiculous People Mover

The Detroit People Mover is an automated mini-train that circles downtown Detroit. With 2.9 miles of uni-directional elevated track and a top speed of 56 miles per hour, it connects to no other lines. This is not effective public transit. Instead, it’s a pleasant distraction, an amusement ride through the city. It would be great if that were enough—transit should more bring joy to travelers, especially these days (and especially Detroit). Sadly, it’s not.

The sensual pleasures of the People Mover—enthusiastically documented by visitors and Detroiters alike—are many. Where else can you ride aloft through a historic downtown, gawking at iconic towers, 45 feet above street level? OK, not nowhere—Miami and Jacksonville, Florida, have their little horizontal elevators, too, and are considered peer systems to Detroit’s. (Most other “people movers” proper reside in airports, though Seattle’s downtown monorail is sometimes put in the same category, as is Vancouver’s legitimately functional elevated rail system.) But Miami’s system actually provides some meaningful connections, and has been instrumental in helping attract investment back to the downtown area. Even Jacksonville has a more-useful two-way track (which may be destined to become a guideway for autonomous buses).