Detroit Light Rail Reactions On Twitter Offer Praise, Scorn For $25 Million Funding Announcement

Twitter Chimes In On Detroit Transit Plan
FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011 file photo, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaks about the Toyota recalls at the Transportation Department in Washington. A 2008 law calls for new manufacturing requirements to improve the visibility behind passenger vehicles to help prevent fatal backing crashes, which the government estimates kill some 228 people every year _ 110 of them children age 10 and under - and injures another 17,000. But almost five years later, the standards have yet to be mandated because of delays by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which faced a Feb. 28, 2011, deadline to issue the new guidelines for car manufacturers. LaHood has pushed back that deadline three times - promising in February that the rules would be issued by years end. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011 file photo, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaks about the Toyota recalls at the Transportation Department in Washington. A 2008 law calls for new manufacturing requirements to improve the visibility behind passenger vehicles to help prevent fatal backing crashes, which the government estimates kill some 228 people every year _ 110 of them children age 10 and under - and injures another 17,000. But almost five years later, the standards have yet to be mandated because of delays by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which faced a Feb. 28, 2011, deadline to issue the new guidelines for car manufacturers. LaHood has pushed back that deadline three times - promising in February that the rules would be issued by years end. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Light rail funding has finally arrived. At a Friday press conference, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, flanked by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Bing, announced a $25 million federal TIGER grant to help build a transit line in Detroit. In addition, Southeast Michigan will also be getting $6.5 million in funds for a regional network of rapid buses.

The project has certainly traveled a rickety path to get to this point. It's been downsized in scope. It was nearly derailed in favor of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan. And just reaching the starting line for federal funds required state lawmakers to approve legislation for a Regional Transit Authority -- a venture that had already crashed and burned 23 times in the last 40 years.

As expected, Twitter users are here to tell it like it is. HuffPost collected some of their most boisterous and cutting tweets to offer insight on the announcement. Check them out in the slideshow below and tweet your thoughts about light rail to @HuffPostDetroit.

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