Dan Gilbert, developer of Cincinnati's casino, likes rail transit so much that he's co-chair and a financial backer of Detroit's privately funded 3.4 mile Woodward Ave. light rail line:
The Woodward Ave. light rail project and organizational backers include Penske Corp. founder Roger Penske Peter, who is chairman of the M1 Rail project; Peter Karmanos Jr., founder of Detroit-based software maker Compuware Corp.; Mike Ilitch, owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings and co-founder of Little Caesar Enterprises Inc.; and Quicken Loans/Rock Financial founder Dan Gilbert, who’s the project’s co-chairman.
The virtual certainty that a casino will be built in downtown Cincinnati destroys numerous COAST anti-streetcar arguments. The earliest possible full year of streetcar operation, 2013, coincides with the expected opening of the casino, meaning:
- The presence of the casino will increase ridership and therefore increase fare box revenue, meaning the streetcar will operate at a smaller deficit than previously estimated
- Income from the casino will more than offset this deficit and allow faster repayment of bonds
- The casino itself might help pay capital and operations costs for a short spur directly into its facility
- Again, Gilbert is not only a financial backer of Detroit's plan, he's co-chair of the committee working to build it
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