Here is information from a budget-minded traveler about public transit bus service from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) to downtown Detroit. Information is current as of September 25, 2004. This travel option is not well described at the airport.
Smart Bus route 125 is the lowest price option for getting from the main Detroit (Wayne County) Metropolitan Airport to downtown Detroit. The fare is a mere $1.50 (cash, exact change, dollar bills accepted but not dollar coins).
The bus is clean, modern, and safe,
but not fast. It travels on non-freeway streets
through older suburbs. Bus stops are close together. It does not get stuck in traffic, but takes a
circuitous route and one point winds through a small shopping mall. The
travel time from the airport to downtown Detroit (financial district) is about
90 minutes.
A taxicab or rental car takes about 30 minutes but costs much more. Unlike most U.S. airports I have seen, Detroit Metro Airport offers no reasonably priced express bus option for downtown Detroit hotels as of September 2004.
Go to this Smart Bus web page for the schedule for route number 125: http://www.smartbus.org/Smart/Ride%20SMART/Route.aspx
On this web page, select Route 125 - Fort Street, then choose a Service Day (Weekday, Saturday, or Sunday), and choose a Direction (Inbound toward Detroit, or Outbound toward the Airport). Then click on the Get Schedule button.
Route 125 buses leave the Detroit Metro airport for downtown approximately every 55 minutes on weekdays, from both the (older) L.C. Smith Terminal, and the (newer) McNamara Terminal that serves Northwest and Continental Airlines. Check the schedule for which terminal is served when, and for the different weekend schedule.
In downtown Detroit, the bus driver if asked will let you off near a People Mover station, an elevated circulator transit system that covers the downtown area.
Happy (and economical) travels! Enter feedback to action@bettertransport.info.
This is an unofficial information page at www.bettertransport.info. Go to the Smart Bus website shown above for the latest information on the downtown to the airport bus in Detroit.