Will be responsible for all aspects of operations and maintenance, including hiring staff, training and managing streetcar operators, service operations, dispatch, vehicle and track maintenance, and fare enforcement.
The Penske Tech Center will be the nation’s first vehicle storage and maintenance facility to operate completely off-wire.
Selling the naming rights for an entire mass transit system puts Detroit future streetcar on the forefront of a trend in public transportation, say several industry analysts.
Updated federal safety regulations is the main culprit for the delay, in addition to weather and the timetable for delivery of M-1's streetcars.
In the works since 2008, the M-1 Rail was first envisioned as a nine-mile streetcar system stretching from near the Detroit River to 8 Mile Road. But in 2011 that plan was scrapped in favor of the 3.3-mile line, for fiscal reasons.
Detroit-based Quicken is owned by Dan Gilbert, who has been the $137 million streetcar project's co-chairman (with Roger Penske) nearly since its 2008 inception.
The cost to design and build the facility, which includes community input, is estimated to be $6.9 million.
The deal, with agreements totaling $40 million, marks the first time that New Markets Tax Credit Financing have been used to fund a public transportation initiative.
Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx joined local, state and federal government officials, private donors and the Detroit community at a “Track Signing Ceremony” in Detroit to announce the TIGER grant for the M-1 RAIL project.
The funding, which had been anticipated by M-1 officials, helps to plug what could have been a hole in funding for the streetcar line’s estimated $140-million construction cost and its operating revenues later.
media brand
The secure and easy all-access connection to your content.
Bookmarked content can then be accessed anytime on all of your logged in devices!
Already a member? Log In
