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The M-1 Rail agency has released a slick, upbeat video that includes simulated trains going up and down Woodward Avenue and chatter from people including Dan Gilbert, who is on the board of directors, and Matt Cullen, the CEO of the rail.
In the video, Gilbert, clad in a hard-hat helmet, standing in the middle of Woodward, amid the construction for the M-1 Rail, says:
"We went and looked at Portland and Minneapolis and Denver and San Diego. And in everyone of those cities, the city fathers told us light rail that was curb side was the single dominating economic event that took their cities to the top."
The three-minute video entitled "The M-1 Rail: Moving Forward Together" was first aired Monday outside at Grand Circus Park when U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx joined local, state and federal government officials, private donors and the Detroit community at a “Track Signing Ceremony” to celebrate the streetcar project.
On Friday, it was aired again on the closing day of a Detroit Homecoming conference in Midtown sponsored by Crain's Detroit Business.
The video is sure to create some enthusiasm. It's also likely to be met with skepticism from critics of the system.
