Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bicycle Infrastructure

The Motor City’s New Transportation Plan is a Breath of Fresh Air

Detroit has some of hte highest auto insurance rates in the U.S. Photo: Detroit/Bloomberg Associates

The Motor City might have to change its nickname.

Detroit's new five-year transportation plan [PDF] calls for a network of protected bike lanes on the city's wide streets, intersection signals that give more time to pedestrians, and traffic calming measures such as speed bumps in residential areas and school zones

“The goal isn’t just to deliver better projects, but to build a better city, one where Detroiters’ opportunities are not limited by their choices for getting around,” Janette Sadik-Khan, the former NYC DOT Commissioner who created the plan with Bloomberg Associates, told Curbed.

Getting around has long been a problem in the city built for — and by — the automobile.

Detroit has the highest pedestrian death rate of U.S. large cities, the Detroit Free Press reported, and its transit system is, arguably, the worst of any major city in the country (though voters get some of the blame there, narrowly defeating a ballot measure in 2016 that would have greatly expanded transit across the region).

Buses are a key part of the plan; the city's stated goal is to increase ridership 25 percent through basic service improvements such as increased service on the 10 busiest lines, 50 new bus shelters, off-board fare payment, bike patrols for transit police along major bus routes. and, by 2021, giving riders real-time travel information. The city may also experiment with temporary bus boarding islands, like those in New York and Oakland.

The plan also calls for boosting City Hall's investment in road repair, expanding the city's MoGo bike share system, programming signals to ease traffic, planting 3,300 new trees, and increasing participating in a program that allows low-income residents to ride transit for $5 per year.

Mayor Mike Duggan and Sadik-Khan also hope reforms such as better management of car parking and the creation of more walkable streets will revive retail in Detroit — where most residents shop "in nearby suburbs," the report noted.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Have a System

The safe systems approach to street design, popular in Europe, could cut U.S. traffic deaths in half.

May 21, 2025

Does Transportation Advocacy Have a Place In the Wake of a Deadly Tornado?

Much of St. Louis is struggling in the wake of a deadly tornado. Amid such disasters, urbanism needs a pause and a rethink.

May 21, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Show Elections Have Consequences

"Woke" transit agencies need not apply for federal grants now that father of nine Sean Duffy is in charge.

May 20, 2025

Should We Treat the Local Bus As a Basic Right?

There's a way of framing public transit that makes the bus a useful mobility tool for everyone: as a moving extension of the sidewalk network.

May 20, 2025

Op-Ed: Public Transportation is Key to Social Mobility

"As wealth inequality grows and social mobility becomes more difficult, people without access to mobility will be left behind."

May 19, 2025

Car Harms Monday: Machines Took Over Cities and Left Humans in the Dust

There isn't enough physical space for every single household to store its fleet of personal vehicles in front of the home, nor is there space for everyone to drive at the same time. So let's fix that.

May 19, 2025
See all posts