Paulette Chaplin

"This is a huge setback," said Paulette Chaplin of Hazel Park, a daily bus user and director of Transportation Riders United.

They are 75 years ahead of us, and it shows,†says Paulette Chaplin, director of Transportation Riders United, a Detroit nonprofit lobbying for mass transit.
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Chaplin of Transportation Riders United says the move is encouraging, but she and her group are still somewhat skeptical, waiting to see the details of how the money will be dispersed and SEMCOG’s plans to use the funds. “We’re saying, ‘Heck, that’s almost half the cost of a whole rail line,’ †she says.

Plus, she says, Amtrak already services a Detroit to Ann Arbor route, and there are pressing transit issues closer to the city that need to be addressed, one of the biggest being the lack of public transit from downtown Detroit to the airport.

“It’s not like Chicago, or Washington, D.C., where you can take the Metro to the airport to your hotel downtown,†she says. “I can’t tell you how many times a week I get calls, ‘I am trying to get to the airport using public transportation.’ I say, ‘Well, if you leave now …’.â€
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Instead of joining the flood of drivers behind the wheels of their cars, SUVs and minivans trucking down I-75 every day, Chaplin takes a walk to the bus stop.

“I have a car, but I ride the bus every single day,†she says. “I think there is room for both. It doesn’t have to be either or.â€

In a metro area of millions, she is one of the few people who choose to use public transit; most of Chaplin’s fellow bus passengers are there because they have no other choice, local public transit officials say.
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Neither the buses nor the train are comprehensive or well coordinated, Chaplin says.

Compared with other city’s residents, metro Detroit residents lack knowledge and options when it comes to getting around, she says.
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Chaplin said that when cities pull out, it erodes the system and adds to the confusion of navigating bus routes.
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Chaplin said she hopes DARTA’s demise doesn’t stall momentum surrounding the issue.

“I think that can be used as an excuse,†she says, adding that it could be years before the agency is up and running again. “Let’s do transit now.â€

Executive Director: Paulette Chaplin - pchaplin@detroittransit.org (ext 13) Operations Director: Mike Whims - mwhims@detroittransit.org (ext 10)