The newest hub in the Motor City
The Rosa Parks Transit Center, a new multimodal facility in downtown Detroit, opened this summer. The $22.5 million facility is a hub for 21 city bus routes, the SMART suburban bus system, Transit Windsor for bus service to Windsor, Ontario, and taxis. Two Detroit People Mover stations are easily within walking distance from the center, and the city’s planned light rail transit system will connect to the facility.
Designed by New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff for the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT), the Rosa Parks Transit Center is a 25,000-square-foot indoor facility with more than two acres of exterior transit access. “DDOT’s overall objective was to meet the public transit need by enhancing its transit service for downtown and by reestablishing the traditional single point where riders can make transfers between all buses that will be entering or leaving downtown,” says Ruby Jordan, DDOT project manger.
Seven cloud-like fabric canopies made of a tough, flexible glass-coated fiber highlight the station, offer cover to pedestrians and funnel rainwater to garden areas. The new facility adds an iconic design to the downtown Detroit streetscape. “We [wanted] a facility that would be a signature piece for the city. We got that and more,” Jordan says.