DETROIT – The People Mover’s connection to the Ford Motor Company isn’t what you might think. It wasn’t just made to connect the RenCen to the Joe Louis Arena (RIP).
What’s a people mover, anyway?
Before diving in, it helps to know what a people mover actually is. A people mover is a driverless, guided mass transit system that uses dedicated tracks on short routes. Think the tram connecting terminals at DTW or, you know, the People Mover itself.
Where it all came from
In 1964, Ford wanted to make a splash at the New York World’s Fair to help celebrate the launch of the Ford Mustang. To pull it off, the automaker enlisted Disney to design a massive Ford pavilion.
The centerpiece of that pavilion was Ford Magic Skyway -- a slow-moving ride that took guests “through time” while they sat in actual Ford vehicles, moved along a track by motorized tires.
When the fair closed in 1965, Disney brought several of its World’s Fair–era attractions back to Disneyland. Ford Magic Skyway, however, did not make the trip.
Ford reportedly had no interest in continuing to sponsor the attraction at Disneyland, but Disney wasn’t about to let the technology go to waste.
Skyway to People Mover
Disney’s Imagineers took the Magic Skyway’s ride and propulsion system and evolved it into something entirely new: the PeopleMover.
Rather than individual cars used as a themed ride, the new concept became a continuous, high-capacity transit loop of multi-car trains propelled by the track itself. It was designed to run nonstop around Tomorrowland -- and also served as a real-world testbed for transit ideas Walt Disney was actively exploring for his planned EPCOT city.
The Disneyland PeopleMover opened in 1967. The name, originally just a working title, ended up sticking.
From Tomorrowland to today
What started as a theme park attraction began attracting serious attention from transportation planners worldwide. People mover technology continued to evolve internationally, and eventually the federal government stepped in, creating the Downtown People Mover Program to help fund and develop the technology further.
Interest, however, eventually faded. In the end, only three people movers were built as part of the federal program: the Metromover in Miami, the Skyway in Jacksonville, and the Detroit People Mover, which opened July 31, 1987.
Which means the next time you board Detroit’s elevated loop downtown, you’re riding a descendant of a Ford-sponsored Disney attraction that was created to promote the Mustang.
The Mustang would go on to be one of the best-selling cars ever, so it worked out.