Detroit People Mover

One of my absolute favorite things about our Detroit trip was the People Mover.  The People Mover is a monorail that forms a 'circle' around a portion of downtown from the river all the way up to the sports arenas.  I love public transportation, and this was a good one!  It was $.75 per ride, but if you didn't leave the secured area, you didn't have to pay to get back on.

Took a picture of the map for reference while we were there, but I ended up cutting off West River Front in favor of being able to easily read the stops.

Pulling out of our 'home' station for the first time!

Billy likes public transportation too! = )

Er kommt!

What?!?

There it goes!

The platforms did not get very good airflow, which is probably great in the winter, but it was stifling when we were waiting for longer than a few minutes after walking around in the sun and climbing the stairs (it was only 90F out though.)   I would estimate that a new car (well, alternating between 2) came through every 7-10 minutes.

This sign was the only place I saw the character, so it was kind of weird!

So, as we were riding on the first day, I noticed that some of the stops had art near the platform.  I decided on day 2, if we were looking for something to do, that maybe it would be fun to take a picture of the art at each stop!  

This was slightly more time consuming than I would have thought, and sometimes we would find really cool things (like the GM headquarters or the Belt) and it would derail (lol) our progress.  So, when we made it to the station nearest the stadium, we paused the project, to go watch a game!  Afterward, we picked it back up, but were running out of time before we needed to leave to get to the concert up in Clarkston.

Without further ado, a tour of each stop of the Detroit People Mover:

Our "home" station was Millender Station, so that's where we'll start.

The large mosaic!

The smaller mosaic on a different wall.

Our next stop was Renaissance Center.  This was the GM headquarters stop, so we ended up spending a long time being tourists before moving along.

Next up is Bricktown.

Greektown was next.  We didn't actually leave the platform, since we had explored to our hearts' content the previous day, and so I would say that Greektown has the least apparent art on the platform.  They did have an interesting plug and cover though!

Next stop: Cadillac Center!  We had some time to play at this one, since nothing nearby lulled us away from the station.

Billy "coming through a door."  The small blue tiles were different on each arch, and had a different occupation on each one.  Some of them were blocked behind the caution barriers around the escalators, and since I couldn't have the set, I didn't take any close ups.

I'm a fountain!

Moving along to Broadway!  We did exit here, because we found a cool art piece spanning an Alley, that turned out to be so much more (the Belt, if you want to see pictures click the link a the top of this post.)  

And, as we were coming back, I realized that some stations had informational placards about the art installations!  So, at this point, if the station had one that I could find, the information is also provided (we did not have time for me to remedy the first few stops though.)

Grand Circus Park.  Our return here marks where we had to pause, because we had a reservation and tickets to a baseball game!  I really love the installation here!  And I feel like this might be their 'flagship' station, because they have a cool sign in the downstairs area too!

This was not a gate, but it was very secure.

Back 'on track' (get it, cause we're back from the game, and back on the track, lol. no? oh, okay.) Our next stop is Times Square.

Michigan. 

Fort/Cass.  At this point, we started feeling crunched for time, so we stayed on or near the platform, so that we could catch the next car.

Huntington Place.  We did venture out a bit, because this platform was very stifling, since it sits at the start of the path (the dotted lines on the map) that travels between two buildings.  

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West River Front.  I would have really liked to have gotten out here to check out the Riverfront and Riverwalk, but we needed to go, so we stayed put.  I guess Joe Louis Arena may have been the old name of the stop? The sign matches most of the other sign, but the map said West River Front.

Two sections of mural, one large and one small.  I took the extra picture of a Derpy Dragon for Alice.  The description of the art was on the other side of the pay gate, so I had to take the picture from afar.

And the final stop: Financial District.   There was a placard in this one, but it was clearly for an exhibit that no longer graced the wall, and the art that was there, had no plaque.  We could see our hotel from here, but it was a few blocks away, so we waited for the next round, though timewise probably came up even.  

I hope you've enjoyed Tami's Tour of the Train stations of the Detroit People Mover.  I can't wait to bring the kids along -for the ride- next time!

later days