By Rick Pluta
The future of mass transit in Detroit will be the topic of a meeting later Monday that brings US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to Michigan. City, state, and federal officials are hoping to get some financial support for a light rail project down Detroit's main thoroughfare.
Governor Rick Snyder plans to be at the meeting. The governor said he's anxious to hear what LaHood has to say about the project, called M-1. The rail project would eventually connect to suburban transit systems, just like transportation networks in cities such as Boston and Chicago.
The governor said that would better serve the people already living in the city, and make Detroit an attractive destination for entrepreneurs and young people starting careers.
"How Detroit does, and the comeback of Detroit is important for the comeback of Michigan."
The success of the city's comeback is critical to the governor's long-term strategy to make Michigan the center of a North American trade region that stretches from Saint Louis to Montreal.
Copyright 2012, MPRN