Detroit In Transit - Other Design Contest Entries
Remember, please rank the below transit station designs in order of preference, 1 as your favorite. Please email Design@DetroitTransit.org with your rankings and brief comments. Thanks!
Transit Oriented Neighborhoods
N-29 - Royal Oak Transit Square - Urban planning design of a vibrant neighborhood around transit station
The Vision - Mass transit and dense mixed use form the heart of a sustainable city. Dense cities need mass transit to relieve automotive congestion and create a vital community. The vision is a network of interconnected regional transportation hubs located in viable, sustainable, diverse, urban downtowns.
The Proposal - Downtown Royal Oak this vision well. It is already a mass transit hub. It has a pedestrian friendly environment, new downtown housing and forward-looking zoning ordinance that promote dense urban life. Even with these assets it can be improved.
Our proposal looks at Second Street in Downtown Royal Oak. A regional bus and Amtrak station is now located at the west end of Second. At the east end are the Farmers Market and District Court. In between are the Post Office, City Hall and Library. This corridor has many street level parking lots that detract from the pedestrian experience. There is a great opportunity to create a real urban street connecting these important city assets. Our proposal shows how this could evolve.
A new Intermodal Mass Transit Station anchors the west end. In front of the station is a new triangular Transit Square. It is a grand public gathering place serving the station and the existing Post Office. New mixed use, mixed income housing, office and street front retail connect the Transit Square to a new central park and an enlarged Farmers Market at the east end.
As we move into this new century, urban mass transit combined with mixed use, dense urbanism offers numerous ways to reduce energy consumption and promote diverse, creative and sustainable ways to live. Our proposal is one hopeful vision of this future.
N-16 -
The transit exchange is a new type of transit connection point which combines the concentration of a transit center with the linearity of a transit mall. Rather than focusing primarily on transportation, the transit exchange engages the surrounding city to form a lively district of which transit is an essential, but not dominating, feature.
This plan focuses on two areas that complement each other by providing different types of environments that support and are supported by proximity to transit: Washington Boulevard and Times Square Park.
Washington Boulevard serves as the location for the Detroit Transit Exchange. The boulevard median’s four sections have distinct uses which complement their surroundings, but are united by common street trees and walkways. All four areas can be used by transit riders as they wait for a connection, but these spaces are also convenient for residents, workers, and entertainment-seekers. These same people can shop in new and existing businesses located in historic storefronts along the boulevard. Finally, office and residential spaces in mixed-use buildings above the retail contribute to the life of the street.
Times Square Park, with its native plant species and meandering pathways, stands in contrast to the hustle and bustle of Washington Boulevard. This natural park is larger and contains more vegetation than other downtown open spaces, providing an urban oasis from within which the city seems almost distant. The park is surrounded on three sides by new residential developments, which are well suited for people who seek proximity to transit without the high level of activity of Washington Boulevard.
The people who use these spaces can exchange not only modes of transportation, but also goods and information. This dense concentration of exchanges creates a vital energy that is at the heart of every great city and is the future of Detroit.
Other designs
Detroit in 2025 will be a prosperous, vibrant metropolis built around mass transit. Using the pre-existing People Mover as a base, Detroit will build a grid of elevated commuter railways connecting downtown with the rest of the city as well as the inner suburbs. No area in the city will be more than three blocks away from a commuter train stop; no area in the suburbs will be more than six blocks away from a stop. Passengers will be given conveient access the entire metro area. Parking lots near selected stops will allow travelers to park cars safely and ride a train to their destination. The long vacant Michigan Central Station will serve as a hub for this commuter rail system, in addition to servicing freight lines and international/long distance travel.
The two-lane railways will run alongside or near major roads including Woodward, Grand River, Michigan, Fort, Gratiot, and Jefferson. The railways will be built above sidewalks and will accommodate pre-existing infrastructure. Stations will be handicapped-accessible elevator/staircase towers alongside the railway. Stations will also be adjacent to heavy traffic areas such as schools, stadiums, theatres, stores, hospitals and offices. Trains will be computer-operated and hydrogen-powered, with enough room to accommodate up to fifty passengers. In case of special events, additional cars made be added on to train to accomodate up to 150 passengers. Trains will also be self-diagnostic, with repairs performed at the Michigan Central Station.
The system of mass transit to be employed in the Detroit region of 2025 will allow dramatically increased efficiency, safety, affordability, and convenience to travelers. Mass transit will provide greater convenience & accessibility to the entire metro region, allowing long-neglected areas better access to goods & services.
It is an honor to be able to take part in this project and even more so for you to consider my design as an idea for Detroit’s illustrious future. With this project I felt a sense of pride, researching back to a time in which America; namely Detroit, was on the forefront of styling and the design of innovative and exciting vehicles. Harley Earl, a Detroit legend brought life to Industrial Design namely automobiles. We became excited for once to look at cars, at trucks, and yes even buses. GMC Greyhound buses and GMC fishbowl buses were perfect examples of stylish mass transit in the mid 20th century. Where has that flare gone? We have lost a fundamental element of perception in that if we aren’t excited about our public transportation, how can our people be? I have envisioned the next generation of GMC buses, built right here in southeastern Michigan. My bus invokes a sense of pride that is inherent within every resident of the Motor City. You can be proud to be seen in a bus once more, my bus is sleek, streamlined and will also employ the newest GM hybrid diesel/electric technology to further bolster its aesthetic strengths. My goal is to revive the public transportation system through the mindset of its riders and operators. When morale and pride are increased, so is patronage. I feel this is one opportunity and concept that could be explored in the next 18 years.
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