DETROIT, Mich. — Detroit’s elevated People Mover is getting a $10 million state boost to finish readying a dozen refurbished cars from Toronto that will retire the nine older trains now in service.
The Detroit Transportation Corporation landed the award in the first round of Michigan’s Infrastructure Projects Authority Fund, a package of nearly $65 million spread across 18 public-transit projects. Whitmer’s office flagged the People Mover line as the biggest single check in that round.
MDOT’s project write-up says the dollars finish four steps on the former Toronto Transit Commission vehicles: inspection, rebuild work, tying them into People Mover systems, and certification. Managers want steadier service and the old headways back once the new set rolls.
The loop moves about 1.25 million riders yearly and feeds QLINE, city buses, SMART and other regional links. Reusing Toronto stock is pitched as a lower-cost way to stretch the system’s life versus ordering a fully new fleet.
No passenger start date appears in the governor’s note or MDOT sheet. Detroit City Council earlier steered $6 million toward purchasing and rehabbing People Mover cars in a 2023 one-time appropriation.
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