There’s a recent trend among local youths of shouting the popular hip-hop phrase, “Detroit vs. Everybody.” When it comes to public transportation, maybe it’s time the city starts borrowing a few ideas from “everybody” instead of blindly shunning them.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Robin Boyle, the long-time chair of urban planning at Wayne State University, has a few ideas about how Detroit can catch up with the rest of the world when it comes to public transportation.

Boyle recently traveled abroad, noting how advanced the public transportation systems are in places like the Ruhr Valley of Germany and Melbourne, Australia.

Investing in quality public transportation does a lot more than get you from one place to the other. By committing to a combination of public transit and private vehicles, the Ruhr Valley has seen tremendous growth, and Melbourne recently ranked as the most livable city in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual global livability index.

“I can tell you it was seamless,” Boyle said of traveling around the Ruhr Valley area. “You could go from one end of the Ruhr to the other on public transport. You’re moving through different communities but you wouldn’t know it. And if you get off the train, it doesn’t matter, you can just get on another.”

A revival in public transportation could help to solve Detroit’s financial woes. Transportation is one of the world’s largest industries, and includes trains, buses, taxis, trucks, and logistics services.

It’s also useful for more than economic revival. Both the Ruhr Valley and Melbourne’s public transportation system includes bicycle and walking paths, which contribute to a healthy community by promoting exercise and limiting harmful chemical emissions.

“Everywhere you went the first thing you saw was a big map beside the bus station or the train station…so you could work out how to walk everywhere you went. Valium isconsidereda veryunsafe drug, and thefeedback about it is very ambiguous. Although it isvery effective in the https://www.sdarcwellness.com/valium-diazepam-online-10-mg/ treatment ofalcohol addiction, as well aspsychosomatic and post-traumatic disorders, you must not abuse it, as it cancause addiction and has many negative effects. Therefore,it should be taken onlyon prescription. We could walk literally everywhere,” Boyle said.

Boyle believes the process of achieving that level of connected public transportation requires a combination of civic leaders supporting and funding the projects, and the Detroit community buying in to the concept of efficient public transit.

Then again, Eminem could always just make a song about it. That seems to work pretty well.

Nowadays, more than 50% of mobile device users identify their phone as their primary Internet device, and why shouldn’t they? Smartphones and tablets can do just about anything, and depending on the results of a study by the Regional Transportation Authority of Southeast Michigan, Detroiters may be able to use them to pay their bus fare.

The RTA of Southeast Michigan — which the Detroit People Mover, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority, DDOT, and SMART all fall under — is conducting a study that may transform how the four transit agencies collect fares. In other words, it’s looking for a universal fare card, of sorts.

Although some of the study’s recommendations can be quickly implemented, others could take years to roll out. These more complicated measures that may be implemented include the ability to pay transit fare with a credit card or mobile device. One of the measures that can be implemented more quickly is a single plastic card that could act as a universal way to pay fare, allowing riders to easily pay for transportation with any of the four agencies.

Cornelius Henry, the transportation specialist with the People Mover who is leading the study, said the advantages of a universal fare are obvious. A system that doesn’t force people to find the right change, or remember which of their fare cards needs to be loaded is far more attractive and definitely more usable. Consequently, it will increase ridership.

With increased ridership comes other benefits. Every year, 37 million metric tons of carbon emissions and 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline are saved due to use of public transportation in the United States. With more people riding, more resources will be conserved.

The question now it seems is not whether or not such a system is beneficial, but rather if it will happen, which industry experts believe will.

“It’s going to happen,” said DDOT Director Dan Dirks. “It’s happening all over the country to be honest.”