  Opus Member Username: Opus Post Number: 45 Registered: 08-2005 |
Annual run to the auto show this morning. Drove up to Greektown, parked in the garage and rocked to the people mover station. The routine is to ride the DPM from Greektown to Cobo, go to the show, then ride back for lunch at New Old Parthenon and desert at the Astoria Bakery. So we get through the construction mess, get up to the DPM station and are presented with the following statement on a piece of copy paper "Not open until 10:00 A.M. Sunday January 20, 2008" Now, we are there at 8:15 in order to give time to ride the train, get tickets, check our coats, and get in line for the opening at 9:00 A.M. My question is, why in God's name would you start the trains late on one of the biggest weekends of the year? To top that, there is no explination on either the DPM or the NAIAS website. It was not the end of the world, but it was a pain in the backside and just another thing to make you want to just park at COBO and drive out after the show. At least give some sort of explination why, it usually makes people a little more receptive to the situation. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 1810 Registered: 07-2004 |
I'll go with standard D-YES etiquette and blame unions. The reason you couldn't take the train is because of the unions, somehow, some way ...  | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 536 Registered: 12-2006 |
according to the people mover website, the normal Sunday schedule for the people mover doesn't start until noon. So they DID open 2 hours earlier than normal for sundays. I'm guessing that the assumption they were running under at that moment is that perhaps they weren't predicting the Cobo parking garage to be filled up until around ten and that "overflow" parking wouldn't yet be filling up throughout the rest of downtown until later. Perhaps the anticipated ridership between say 8 and 10 was too low for them to justify the cost of opening and operating the People Mover 4 hours earlier than normal and they decided that the ridership numbers after 10 would justify the early operations. | ||
Messykitty Member Username: Messykitty Post Number: 209 Registered: 03-2006 |
A whole day ruined. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2552 Registered: 04-2006 |
quote: My money is on the crime. You know crime doesn't end until 10am! | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 537 Registered: 12-2006 |
I'll do my best Freep forum impersonation... I think it's that Thug Mayor and his cronies...and black people. The sad thing is that it wouldn't shock me in the least if someone would post something lack that on the Freep board. In fact I would be MORE shocked if they DIDN'T.  | ||
Supergay Member Username: Supergay Post Number: 124 Registered: 05-2006 |
Oh man, this reminds me. I was out at (proof) on Saturday night and had to go to the bathroom. When I got in there, one of the urinals was out of order, and the other one was being used. I couldn't even use the stall because someone was in there too! If you're going to have waterless urinals at least make sure they work all the time. This ruined an otherwise really great night. | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 406 Registered: 01-2007 |
I remember people using the sinks as urinals at the Silverdome! Ewww... | ||
Cheddar_bob Member Username: Cheddar_bob Post Number: 1672 Registered: 10-2003 |
The $5 cab ride from Monroe to Cobo was a deal-breaker, huh? | ||
Dougw Member Username: Dougw Post Number: 2041 Registered: 11-2003 |
Eh, can you quickly hail a cab to just hop across the CBD? Never tried it, but I kind of doubt it. I'm all for snide commentary, but it is pretty ridiculous that the People Mover doesn't at least run all day 7 days a week, starting at 8am at the latest. Raise the fare to 75 cents or a dollar to recoup some costs if necessary. | ||
Miketoronto Member Username: Miketoronto Post Number: 774 Registered: 07-2004 |
Look at the bright side. Instead of riding the train past everything, it was just a 10min walk or so from Greektown to COBO. You could mark through downtown on the way, and see new things. Gotta turn the situation into something good. Enjoy a walk | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 406 Registered: 04-2004 |
BTW, when the people mover was in operation, it was nice to see the trains all filled up. | ||
Broken_main Member Username: Broken_main Post Number: 1411 Registered: 06-2005 |
I have one little itsy bitsy thing to say. Two short blocks from Greektown at the Hilton, the Cobo shuttles run every 10 minutes. Even though its chilly, that is always an option. I saw a lot of people this morning taking the shuttle from Greektown and it was about 855am when I saw this. | ||
Tompage Member Username: Tompage Post Number: 51 Registered: 01-2005 |
I too was frustrated by the late DPM start. Is it really that difficult to coordinate the DPM schedule with one of the City's signature events? At about 0830 I walked to the Grand Circus Park station from my home in north Brush Park, expecting to ride the DPM right into Cobo. Saw the "Not Open until 10:00 AM" sign; walked the rest of the way down Washington Blvd. to the show. I didn't have a problem, but if you weren't prepared for the extreme cold, it could have been a dangerous situation. Of course, the intermittently-cleared sidewalks presented their own navigational challenges. It was nice to see that the DPM was packed on my return trip. | ||
Michigansheik Member Username: Michigansheik Post Number: 259 Registered: 09-2005 |
you should blog them at the DPM website and let them know how you feel, maybe they'll change their ways when they realize they are not serving a demand? | ||
Drankin21 Member Username: Drankin21 Post Number: 152 Registered: 12-2003 |
"Look at the bright side. Instead of riding the train past everything, it was just a 10min walk or so from Greektown to COBO. You could mark through downtown on the way, and see new things. Gotta turn the situation into something good. Enjoy a walk" It was about 7 degrees at the time Mike. Enjoy a walk? Enjoy a frostbite... | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 581 Registered: 08-2007 |
Seems that someone at the DPM didn't tell the workers that the schedule had changed. From the DPM web site: http://www.thepeoplemover.com/ WE-LL-TAKE-YOU-THERE!.id.2.htm quote: | ||
Higgs1634 Member Username: Higgs1634 Post Number: 284 Registered: 10-2005 |
quote: No, the standard DYes etiquette (as displayed on this thread) is to mock the victim of local incompetence as being a moron that can't handle life in city. Which is, totally justified. I mean, why would ANYONE ever expect the People Mover to run during the one time of year it's actually used by people not going to a Wings game? That is just silly. One should really have planned for it to open at a random times and even when open one should really plan for it to be out of service. quote: That is excepting those times they don't really feel like getting it open until 10. Just figure it out on your own if that happens. Everyone knows schedules in Detroit are really just aspirational goals. | ||
Mallory Member Username: Mallory Post Number: 230 Registered: 05-2006 |
Getting there that early, I would have parked at the Joe. | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 86 Registered: 11-2007 |
Yeah, it's cause of black people. And women. And the French. Ha. | ||
Granmontrules Member Username: Granmontrules Post Number: 292 Registered: 01-2007 |
SOmetimes things break down and need to be repaired. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1408 Registered: 09-2007 |
Let's not forget the suburbanites either. Somehow, the blame always ends up back at them. | ||
Mackcreative Member Username: Mackcreative Post Number: 175 Registered: 08-2006 |
What about DPS, can't they be too blame too? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4699 Registered: 10-2003 |
Dissapointed by the People Mover? The hell, you say! | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 504 Registered: 11-2003 |
Friggen 'Frogs. It's all their fault. Don't you realize the french want to mess up everyhing? And suburbanites - if they didn't gum up the tracks with their Starbucks skinny cinnamon dolce latte with sprinkles and whip cups, the damn PM would work. Don't even get me started on everyone else who sucks. (SARCASM DRIPPING FROM ALL OF THE ABOVE). Regardless, I think this is just an example of things getting better and more active - so with an increase in demand there are some growing pains. If one makes a polite case on their blog or by contacting them, I'm sure it'll be taken note of. Sometimes, it's best to first attack a problem with honey as opposed to vinegar. As the "D" gets more popular, there are going to be some hiccups. | ||
Higgs1634 Member Username: Higgs1634 Post Number: 285 Registered: 10-2005 |
quote: I didn't realize this was the first year the people mover was being used during the Autoshow. My bad. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1656 Registered: 11-2003 |
That happened to me once a couple years ago when I came for a Tigers game on a Sunday. Parked on the Cobo Roof, but the DPM did not start until noon. But it was a nice day and a good walk down Washington Blvd. so it did not bug me at all. | ||
Cwl704 Member Username: Cwl704 Post Number: 53 Registered: 12-2006 |
Ok my turn at a little sarcasm....My version of the peoplemover was open early enough :-) http://www.brickshelf.com/gall ery/DecoJim/DSO2007/dso5276.jp g and was there for christmas as well :-) http://www.brickshelf.com/gall ery/pguenthe/0612-dso/p1010029 .jpg | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 506 Registered: 11-2003 |
Awesome shots, Cwl. I love the lego stuff. Higgs, it is entirely possible that there was an increase in demand this year different from last year. I'm not saying they're perfect - they're definitely not. But I'm choosing to look at the brighter side of things instead of b**** about it. So I ask, has anyone here actually contacted them on this with a request? |
