Waiting for the Detroit QLINE has often been a misplaced exercise of faith, not in whether the streetcar will come, but when.

Those electronic signs in the stations that list when the next train is scheduled to arrive have provided times that are, to quote a spokesman for the system, “hypothetical."

QLINE officials say they hope that will soon be a thing of the past as they roll out a new streetcar arrival system. The GPS-equipped system is tentatively scheduled to launch next month, just weeks after the QLINE celebrated its first two years in operation, a period in which ridership has been on the low end of projections, the streetcar has gained fans and critics alike, and Detroit is still getting used to the reintroduction of rail along its rapidly developing Woodward Avenue corridor.

Eric Cheng, 22, a student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, often takes the QLINE from the Ferry Street stop near his apartment to the Canfield stop, just down the street from Wayne State’s medical school.

“The biggest problem is that the indicators are not accurate most of the time,” Cheng said, looking up at the screen in the Canfield station that, at 5:48 p.m. on a recent Friday, said the next northbound train was 5 minutes away. “A couple times it has been stuck on 4 minutes, but it really (takes) 10 minutes. If it was more accurate, I’d depend on it more.”

The train arrived on time, at 5:53 p.m.

The uncertainty that Cheng experienced is not, unfortunately, unique.

At 3:21 p.m. Dec. 14, a Free Press reporter watched the electronic sign at the southbound Warren Avenue station list the estimated departure time for the next train at 6 minutes. Twenty minutes later, the estimated departure time said 2 minutes. In January, the same reporter and his family opted to trudge north on Woodward from the Campus Martius station to Little Caesars Arena lugging ice skates and a bag of gear against a cold wind on snow-covered sidewalks when it became clear that waiting for the next streetcar might mean missing the reason for the trip.

At other times, especially when traffic is light or moderate and the weather is good, the streetcars can move briskly to pick up and drop off passengers, with the time between streetcars hitting an acceptable 10 minutes.

Julia Kapilango, a graphic designer from Dearborn, recently told the Free Press she enjoys using the QLINE to traverse Woodward.

"I like how they have their Twitter account to you let you know, you know, if the train is running behind schedule,” Kapilango said. “I really like the QLINE. I look forward to riding it anytime I get a chance to come downtown.”

If the new train arrival system works as advertised, it would represent the most significant upgrade since the QLINE launched on May 12, 2017, following speeches by U.S. senators, the governor and local dignitaries, the driving beat of the Cass Tech marching band and a party of metro Detroiters hoping to catch a ride on the first streetcars to roll along Woodward Avenue in decades.

Two years later, critics point to overly optimistic ridership projections — 5,000-8,000 rides per day scaled back to 3,000-5,000 — as proof of failure even as QLINE officials tout ridership increases from 3,000 to 3,200 daily from September to April year-to-year. Federal data for the first three months of this year vs. January-March of 2018 shows a decrease in individual boardings of 18,683.

QLINE spokesman Dan Lijana noted that this January, when the polar vortex hammered the region and led to concerns of a possible natural gas shortage, a one-day system shutdown was required because of weather.

Rip Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, a philanthropic organization that has been one of the QLINE’s biggest boosters and biggest funders, said there are limits to focusing on ridership alone as a measure of transit success.

“Ridership will never be the way this is sustained financially,” Rapson said. “All are concerned about ridership, but it’s not deterring us from believing it will improve and that we’ll keep moving toward the type of system we believed we’d create when we began this journey.”

Rapson noted that the system has contributed significantly to the revitalization of the Woodward corridor and been a "major down payment" toward the conversation on the need for a regional transit system.

"I would hope we wouldn’t lose sort of the longer-term perspective of what this line has already done and promises to do," Rapson said.

The QLINE has, however, struggled on various fronts, from the “hypothetical” train arrival times to other operational issues, including questions about the wisdom of putting most of the track in the outside, or curb, lanes, causing headaches for bicyclists and creating a situation where an improperly parked car can shut down the system.

System backers, while acknowledging the issues, say the QLINE has helped remake Detroit’s key corridor and will ultimately be the “backbone” of a regional transit system. They claim the system is “driving $8 billion in development” along the corridor, a figure blasted by skeptics who say the QLINE should not get credit for such a large piece of a resurgent area.

Rapson, for one, does not shy away from discussions about QLINE service. In addition to its $50 million investment to build the approximately $145 million system (not counting road work), Kresge has provided funding for various free ride periods. Rapson, who defended the decision to make the QLINE curb-running, also sits on the QLINE's board of the directors.

“It’s always tempting to sort of go immediately to the service because there have been too many glitches and too many uncertainties in it. The clear view of the board is we’ve simply got to make it better,” Rapson said..

New train arrival system

The new train arrival system aims to address a top complaint: reliability.

The system cost about $38,000 and took about nine months to develop, according to Lijana.

Instead of screens at the stations displaying possibly fictional times of arrival, the system, developed by ThunderTech of Cleveland, will show riders where the streetcars are moving along the 3.3-mile route and when the next one should arrive at the rider’s particular station. The system even has a color-coded map showing where street traffic is light (green), moderate (amber) or heavy (red).

Views should be similar on desktop computers and through the QLINE app. Service alerts for stoppages or delays will also be visible.

Lijana said the current system struggles to provide accurate information because Woodward Avenue is a complex environment.

“It doesn’t know when Little Caesars Arena is having an event. It doesn’t know when there’s an emergency medical situation when the track gets shut down. It doesn’t know when it snows. It doesn’t recognize that the traffic flow is different at 7 a.m. than 7 p.m.," Lijana said. "So we had in some ways maybe a more intense challenge in providing customers good information than other systems.”

Making sure the new arrival system addresses the main deficiencies of the current one is something M-1 Rail staffers say is key.

“We’re going to make sure it’s right,” said Sommer Woods, vice president for external affairs for M-1 Rail, the organization responsible for the QLINE.

“The stakes are high,” Lijana said.

What about cars on the tracks?

Two other issues affecting service times and the length of trips might also be tackled in coming months — stoppages caused by vehicles parked on or too near the tracks and heavy traffic slowing the streetcars.

Even though a car parked on the tracks can completely shut down the line, requesting a tow is a multi-call process that involves the QLINE reaching out through the Transit Police to Detroit Police Department dispatch. "At that point, it’s in their hands and they follow their process," Lijana said, noting that such stoppages average about 20 minutes. "Imagine how much faster it would be if one call could be made instead of two calls. ... We’ve reduced the (number of) blockages, but we haven't really reduced the time it takes to clear the blockages."

can completely shut down the line, requesting a tow is a multi-call process that involves the QLINE reaching out through the Transit Police to Detroit Police Department dispatch. "At that point, it’s in their hands and they follow their process," Lijana said, noting that such stoppages average about 20 minutes. "Imagine how much faster it would be if one call could be made instead of two calls. ... We’ve reduced the (number of) blockages, but we haven't really reduced the time it takes to clear the blockages." QLINE officials also want to launch a couple of additional “tactical dedicated lanes,” similar to when the right lane is set aside for streetcars in front of Little Caesars Arena during events.

Officials representing the QLINE say both adding dedicated lanes and tweaking the towing procedure would require buy-in from other entities, including the city and Michigan Department of Transportation. Discussions have been ongoing.

In a statement texted to the Free Press, Mark de la Vergne, Detroit’s chief of mobility innovation, said the city is on board:

"The city is fully supportive of efforts to improve operations on the QLINE. Our traffic team has worked closely with QLINE staff and MDOT to implement improvements along Woodward Avenue, including dedicated lanes on Woodward and improving response times with tow trucks. This summer, we will be piloting different configurations of northbound transit-only lanes on Woodward and having a tow truck on call in the downtown area during weekends."

What riders say

Riders and others who recently spoke with the Free Press offer a snapshot of the streetcar's mixed reviews.

Every couple of minutes on a recent evening, Tenisia Wolfe, 40, of Detroit stood up from the bench at the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard stop and peered up Woodward, seeing whether she could spot the southbound train.

“I think it’s pointless,” she said of the QLINE.

“I used it once when it first (opened). I don’t really use it because I think it’s too slow. I don’t have patience,” she said.

She said because of its limited route, it seems like the QLINE was designed more with visitors in mind than the people who live in the city. Though the QLINE was running on time, a bus arrived first and stopped just a few yards from the QLINE station. Wolfe hopped on the bus.

Sharon Myladoor, 26 of Detroit takes the QLINE almost daily to and from her job downtown at Ally Bank.

Myladoor said the system is convenient, but she’d like to see more trains running on the line. She also believes more driver education around not parking on or too close to the tracks is needed.

"There’s a lot of times where like it’s not really QLINE’s fault that it’s late, but like they can’t move until (a) car gets moved" off the tracks, she said.

Myladoor said if a train is running late, she and other downtown-bound riders at the same station will sometimes decide to share an Uber rather than wait.

Shirley Johnson, 69, of Detroit said she uses the QLINE to get to Rite Aid, Whole Foods and Greektown Casino. Casino trips involve riding the train from her home near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Woodward to the Grand Circus Station, and then picking up the People Mover, which stops at the casino.

Johnson said she’s never had a problem getting on or off the train with the motorized scooter she uses.

“I love it,” she said. “I like the fact that there’s a stop right at my building. It’s really convenient.”

System operator concerns

Matt Cullen’s voice turned to frustration as he discussed the challenges the M-1 Rail team has faced in the last couple of years, specifically in relation to the company hired to operate the system, Transdev, which runs public transportation systems around the world.

“We’ve been struggling with them a little bit,” said Cullen, CEO of M-1 Rail, describing internal leadership struggles at the company, high turnover and inconsistency. Those things, Cullen said, had “trickled down to Detroit,” forcing the original team that built the streetcar line to involve itself in operations much longer than expected and hampered the launch.

Cullen said that was never the plan.

“We never intended to be the operators,” said Cullen, who thought M-1 Rail would eventually disappear and the streetcar would be gifted to a regional transit entity.

M-1 Rail is in the third year of a five-year $15.5 million contract with Transdev, based near Chicago, to operate the QLINE. Cullen’s comments were a more pointed acknowledgement of how Transdev has operated in the Motor City than his comments about the company last year. A lack of drivers, for instance, whom Transdev is responsible for hiring, had been blamed for some issues.

A Transdev spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about the criticism.

Cullen, however, said the QLINE is proving its worth and helping to accomplish the three things M-1 Rail set out to do from the beginning — create great transit on Woodward, boost economic development and be a catalyst for regional transit.

"We get different grades for each, but In aggregate I feel really good about it," Cullen said, noting some unexpected wins along the way — the quality of the half-dozen streetcars, which were bought from a Pennsylvania company with a history in mining equipment, and the batteries, which allow the streetcars to operate longer off wire than expected.

How important are fares?

On a recent Wednesday evening, two young women rushed onto a lightly populated northbound train and took seats near the front.

“I don’t have a ticket,” one of the women told a QLINE ambassador who politely asked to see their tickets.

“You can download the app and purchase one,” the ambassador explained. The woman pulled out her phone; the ambassador moved on to talk to another passenger.

When the train stopped a few minutes later at the Canfield station, the woman and her friend sped past the ambassador toward the door.

“Did you guys finish (paying)?” the ambassador asked.

“Yep, she just paid,” the woman’s friend called out as she stepped onto the sidewalk — leaving the ambassador wondering whether they really did.

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Fares do not make up a large portion of QLINE revenue. In fact, M-1 Rail puts the number at 10% of operating revenue, a percentage described as low by the head of the well-regarded Portland Streetcar. The rest of the QLINE's operating funds, according to Lijana, comes from an operational reserve set up by the rail line's founding donors.

"The operational funding is committed through 2027, with dollars arriving over time. We expect the system to be funded through farebox and that reserve for years to come," Lijana said, noting that "it’s not a drawdown kind of account. Many of the foundations and corporate donors deliver their commitments over time, which is normal for a project like this."

The QLINE saw its operational budget increase from $5.8 million during its first year to $6.7 million for the current fiscal year, which runs through September. Lijana said the increase was, in large part, a result of extending operating hours on nights and weekends.

In response to questions about the long-term funding for the system, Cullen, noting agreements such as the $5 million naming rights deal for the system with Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans, said, "We have the foundation for support that goes out for several years."

Unlike QLINE, the streetcar system in Kansas City, Missouri, KC Streetcar, cites the taxes collected in a special taxing district as its main funding source. Those taxes include a sales tax and assessments on real estate as well as a special assessment on surface parking lots.

KC Streetcar, which marked its third anniversary on May 6, registered average daily ridership for 2019, through April, of 5,186.

Donna Mandelbaum, spokeswoman for the KC Streetcar Authority, said ridership has exceeded expectations, with initial projections of 2,700 daily. The 2.2-mile system is already planning for two extensions, one that would take the line north to the Missouri riverfront and the other south to the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.

Mandelbaum said construction on the shorter northern extension could happen as soon as next year. The other would be about 3.5 miles and could take another five years.

One of the key differences with Detroit is that KC Streetcar is free to ride. Mandelbaum said the plan is to always keep it free, a decision that required some extra assurances the system would be safe — riders must exit at the southern end of the line for instance — but has clearly helped maintain good will and rider numbers. The cost of collecting fares, including the need to install the equipment, was considered a mark against a fare collection.

Interestingly, one of the solutions that Detroit is working to adopt to address its service issues, dedicated lanes, is not in use on KC Streetcar, although it is envisioned when the system is extended. The key service boosting technology that Kansas City uses, which Detroit has discussed but so far not implemented, is signal prioritization. So-called smart traffic signals might change a red light green or keep a green light longer to accommodate the streetcar.

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Mandelbaum said some early critics have changed their position as the system has proven itself, but the system did face plenty of pushback early on.

“It’s been really great for downtown. Now it’s hard to imagine downtown without the streetcar,” Mandelbaum said, noting that Kansas City, in echoes of Detroit, had not had a streetcar since 1957. “People didn’t think that Kansas City needed a streetcar. … We’re very much a car city.”

Will QLINE run to Ferndale?

Natasha Moore, a 33-year-old entrepreneur who lives in Detroit, said she wishes the QLINE was part of a much larger, regional transportation network that ran to Detroit Metro Airport and into the suburbs. She describes herself as a transit advocate.

“The QLINE is a little disappointing because it doesn’t serve as many people as I think it should,” she said. “I’ve lived in Chicago. I know what real transit feels like. This literally gets me from New Center to Downtown.”

The expectation that the QLINE would eventually expand has been a frequent source of speculation. In fact, plans that predated the current configuration envisioned light rail rolling at least to the city line or beyond. As it stands, the final northbound stop is just north of Grand Boulevard.

The failure in recent years to secure a regional transit plan — including the loss at the ballot box in 2016 of a four-county, $4.6 billion plan — has muddied the waters. But Kresge Foundation President Rapson said another go at a regional transit plan is being discussed seriously by people in the “corporate community.”

A regional transit plan with “attendant funding mechanisms” or a taxing authority around the rail line could help fund an expansion. Rapson said he sees the QLINE ultimately as the “backbone” of a regional system, both tying in to more transit that would connect Detroit and Ann Arbor and expanding north at least to the Oakland County line.

Residents in communities such as Royal Oak will want access when the line gets close, he said.

“I would hope and expect that there will be a second phase of the QLINE from New Center up to Eight Mile,” Rapson said.

Cullen offered a similar assessment, saying that expanding the QLINE north would make sense, that there’s “tremendous interest” in doing so and that the collective goal was to have it travel into the suburbs.

“No plans today, but there really is a lot of ongoing conversation about what it might look like and how it might come together,” Cullen said.

Megan Owens, executive director of the advocacy group Transportation Riders United, said the QLINE is a “nice addition to Detroit's transportation choices, especially for the growing number of visitors from the suburbs or out of state. Yet it’s also disappointing because it could and should be so much more.”

Owens, who described the QLINE’s future as unclear “especially since they are so opaque in terms of who's in charge,” said she is “baffled” that streetcars do not have priority at traffic signals or “trustworthy real-time information.” She also questioned why the system has yet to coordinate with metro Detroit’s two bus systems on the recently launched DART fare cards, where riders can purchase a four-hour pass for $2. Both the QLINE and the People Mover, however, are expected to take part in the unified payment system, and Cullen indicated it should happen soon for the QLINE.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: 313-223-4272 or elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.