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Next Tuesday, QLine starts charging passengers raising this obvious question: Is it ready for prime time?
Things are running smoother now than when the 3.3-mile streetcar system launched its maiden voyage on Woodward Avenue on May 12.
Trains run quicker. Station monitors give more accurate accounts of when the next streetcar arrivez. Passenger etiquette is improving. Most people let riders off before trying to board.
QLine folks have been working to smooth out glitches before next Tuesday. Hopefully, they'll accomplish that.
In the past couple weeks, there have been annoying little snags when I’ve taken the train.
On Aug. 15, for example, I was going from Midtown to downtown for a 10 a.m. press conference. I got to the platform at 9:40 a.m. and figured I was pressing it. Then I saw the monitor, which indicated the next train would arrive in 13 minutes.
Ok, I thought, I’ll be a bit late. Well, after 20 minutes there was no train. The station monitor said a car had been "blocking the rails near Congress," but as of 9:30 a.m., all was back to normal. Apparently, it was not.
I called the QLine number to find out what was going on. I was trying to figure out if I should jump ship and find alternative transportation. No one answered. Then I decided to stick it out, curious to see when it would appear.
At 10:30 a.m., the train finally arrived. Fortunately, the press conference didn’t start until about 11 a.m.
On Wednesday morning, I waited a few minutes on the platform. All seemed fine.
The only glitch was that the electronic sign inside that indicates the next stop was stuck on “Baltimore Street.” As each stop came and went, the sign still said “Baltimore Street.” Annoying.
Update: 4 p.m. -- I took the QLINE back to Midtown. I arrived at the platform at One Campus Martius downtown. The electronic screen said the streetcar was due in two minutes. It arrived about 11 1/2 minutes later. By then, the platform was so packed that not everyone was able to get on the train.
No one expects public transportation to be perfect. There'll be intermittent mechanical issues. People park on the track. Accidents happen. The free WiFi doesn't always work.
But if QLine wants to succeed, it needs to do two key things well: Provide good, prompt service to the commuters who live and work along the line and offer relatively comfortable and efficient transportation to people coming for sporting events and concerts.
Too often over the summer, too few trains have come after a Tigers game. The result: Platforms fill and streetcars are too packed for everyone to board. That's supposed to be ironed out. We'll see.
If the QLine can’t accomplish those two tasks, it will be nothing more than a People Mover, a novelty. And support for expanding it will be all the more difficult.
I plan to buy a yearly pass. I’m hoping for the best.
Rider information
Fares:
- $1.50 for three hours; $3 for a day pass.
- $30 for a monthly pass.
- $285 for annual pass ($112 for the rest of 2017).
- Tickets can be purchased on streetcars with cash, with a credit card at station kiosks or with a QLine phone app.
- Bus transfers are 25 cents and can be purchased on board.
- You can also pay with check or money order at the Penske Tech Center, 7520 Woodward Ave.
- Pass purchases are non-refundable, non-transferable and have no cash value. Passes cannot be replaced if lost, stolen or damaged.
- More info is here.
