Video: Before the QLine, Detroit Had a Downtown Trolley

Detroit has a history of doing public transportation in a small way.

There's the People Mover, a single-track, 2.9-mile monorail that began operating downtown in 1987. In 1976,  the Downtown Trolley was built as part of a U.S. Bicentennial project. It ran over a one-mile L-shaped route from Grand Circus Park to near the Renaissance Center, via Washington Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue. Ridership was so poor it was put to rest in 2003.

Now, there's the QLine, a 3.3-mile link between Midtown and downtown. Expansion talk isn't a sure thing, particularly in a town that loves driving, even a few blocks to the drug store.  

We came across this share-worthy video about the Downtown Trolley: