According to metromode, a Detroit-based online magazine, the goals by 2011 include a streetcar line along Woodward between Jefferson and Grand funded by private investors; a commuter rail line between Detroit and Ann Arbor with stops at Dearborn and Metro Airport; hub connectors — small buses that go between major population centers such as Eastland and Westland malls; Arterial Rapid Transit (ART) corridors along Woodward, Michigan, Gratiot, Telegraph, Warren and Van Dyke.

ART is the light version of bus rapid transit. It is much cheaper to set up, but features more advantages than regular bus service, such as traffic-signal priority, enhanced shelters and signs that say when the next bus will arrive.

“The concept with ART is entry-level rapid transit,” says John Swatosh, deputy director of RTCC.

By 2015, the plan calls for:

n extending the Woodward streetcar line to downtown Royal Oak at 11 Mile Road;

n establishing bus rapid transit on Gratiot between Woodward and M-59, and extending it along M-59 to Van Dyke;

n extending the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line up to Pontiac with stops in between at Royal Oak and Birmingham;