Places / People Mover / Stop 2 of 13
Detroit People Mover stationMichigan Avenue
A free-standing station at Cass and Michigan Avenue, across from the downtown bus hub, with two humorous and colourful artworks.
- Code
- MI
- Opened
- July 31, 1987
- Boardings 2024
- 57,691 (9th)
- Boardings 2014
- 148,979 (5th)
01 / Story
The station’s story
Signed simply “Michigan”, the station at Michigan and Cass is downtown’s western gateway: across the street is DDOT’s hub, the Rosa Parks Transit Center, and a block away on Washington Boulevard stops the DAX airport express. It is one of five free-standing stations designed so future neighbours could connect at platform level.
It was among the first six stations when service resumed on May 20, 2022. Before the pandemic it was one of the busiest, fifth in 2014 with 148,979 boardings. In 2024 the City Walls programme added Fel’le’s (Kenyada Kelsaw’s) mural “A Peaceful Place” to its exterior.
In autumn 2026 the escalator is out of service, so use the lift. At the corner of Washington Boulevard stands the statue of General Alexander Macomb, a veteran of the War of 1812 whose family once owned most of Macomb County, Grosse Ile and Belle Isle.
- Kirk Newman’s “On the Move” bronzes
- Allie McGhee’s “Voyage” tile mural
- Transfer to the Rosa Parks bus hub and the DAX airport bus
- 2024 City Walls mural (Fel’le)
02 / From the window
What you see from the car
The car glides over six-lane Michigan Avenue. Look west down the avenue and Michigan Central Station’s tower in Corktown can come into view, where the DTC is planning a multimodal hub.
03 / Art in the Stations
Art at this station
Allie McGhee · 1987
Voyage
tile mural
The brushstrokes look spontaneous but were meticulously calculated. McGhee, a painter, learned tile-making for this work, cutting clay from cardboard templates and building up glazes layer by layer.
Jason Paris · CC BY 2.0 Kirk Newman · 1987
On the Move
cast bronze figures on tile
Fourteen humorous bronze figures dash up beside the escalator to catch the train. The largest, 23 feet (7 m) from toe to toe, leaps a whole floor; one woman carries a briefcase in one hand, a baby in the other, with a child running behind.
04 / Timeline
Station timeline
Opens with two artworks
Works by Kirk Newman and Allie McGhee greet riders.
A Winter Classic car
A train wrapped for the 2013 Winter Classic, which the NHL lockout pushed back to 2014, at the platform; one of the best-known photos of the station.
Among the first six to reopen
On the first day of the post-pandemic restart.
“A Peaceful Place”
Fel’le’s City Walls mural.
The station is part of the loop today; today’s departures are shown above, per timetable.
05 / Curiosities
Curiosities
The largest bronze leaps from the ground floor and “flies” to the upper level; a mother chases the train with a briefcase, a baby and a toddler in tow.
McGhee was a painter who learned tile-making specifically for this work.
A closer look
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
Every figure is compiled from the sources below, including the DTC’s official pages, board minutes and its 2025–2026 planning documents. Where sources differ, we give both. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, freely licensed and credited per author.
06 / Nearby
A short walk away
Places, restaurants and venues from our guide, with straight-line distance and an estimated walking time.
- 1 min walk · 47 mDetroit Department of Transportation (DDOT)Detroit's city bus system since 1922: 37 routes, the Dart regional pass, a live bus tracker and a downtown transit hub.
1 min walk · 51 mHotel Houze Detroit DowntownAn apartment-style extended-stay hotel in the neoclassical Gabriel Richard Building on Michigan Avenue, with full kitchens and in-suite laundry right by the People Mover.- 1 min walk · 90 mLoop TheaterMichigan Avenue's round-the-clock movie house for second- and third-shift factory workers, opened in 1928. Its calling card was a tall vertical sign topped by a circle with a red star.
2 min walk · 99 mBoulevard RoomBreakfast room inside the historic Westin Book Cadillac on Washington Boulevard, serving casual American plates until late morning.- 2 min walk · 105 mSullivan's Steakhouse DetroitA classic American steakhouse on Washington Boulevard: hand-cut steaks, seafood, martinis and a jazz soundtrack.
- 2 min walk · 132 mHotel Indigo Detroit DowntownA Motown-themed boutique hotel on Washington Boulevard, across from the Westin Book Cadillac: 241 rooms in a 1966 tower that got a second life in 2020.
- 2 min walk · 140 mThe Trolley RoomHotel Indigo Detroit Downtown's bistro on Washington Boulevard, with shareable plates, craft cocktails and Michigan beer.
- 3 min walk · 155 mTimes Square TheatreChristian W. Brandt's 1,700-seat Spanish Revival movie house on Abbott Street opened weeks before the 1929 crash, was shut by the Depression a year later, and from 1936 ran 24 hours a day.
- 3 min walk · 159 mCass TheatreA Shubert-era playhouse on Lafayette Boulevard, across from the Free Press Building, that opened with an operetta in 1926 and later helped bring Cinerama to Detroit. It was torn down in 1977–78 for a parking lot.
Around the station
- Rosa Parks Transit Center across the street
Hub for DDOT buses and SMART express lines.
- American and Lafayette Coney Island 5 min
The two rival hot-dog diners, side by side since 1917 and 1924.
- Westin Book Cadillac 4 min
The restored 1924 grand hotel.
- Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building 3 min
The federal office tower.
07 / Events
Events near this station
Upcoming events at nearby venues, from our event guide.
No events at nearby venues in our guide right now.
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