Transportation

Transportation. . , Railroads (north side) , The Michigan Central Railroad whistled into Kalamazoo in 1846, linking it with critical eastern markets. The Lake Shore (1867) and Grand Rapids and Indiana (1870) then arrived from the south. Another line connected with South Haven in 1870, as did the "Fruit Belt" in 1906. Two more spurs arrived in the 1880's and 1890's. By 1912, 75 passenger trains and numerous freight trains departed Kalamazoo daily. , , Metropolitan Mass Transit (east side) , The Kalamazoo Street Railway Company set the city's first mass transit system in motion in 1884, laying tracks for horse-drawn streetcars. Four years later, 30 cars plodded along 12 miles of track, linking burgeoning suburban neighborhoods with the bustling downtown. In 1893, the hum and whirr of electric trolleys replaced the clomp and smell of the horse-drawn cars. , , Trolleys Give Way to Buses (south side) , By 1912, the Michigan United Traction Company had expanded its electric trolley system to 20 miles of track, spurring the dramatic growth of suburbs and popular resorts such as Oakwood Park on Woods Lake. A bitter employee strike in 1932 helped bring the demise of the trolley, and a privately owned bus line offered greater mobility. In 1967, the city created the Metro Transit Bus System. , , Automotive Ventures (west side) , The first horseless carriage reached Kalamazoo streets in 1900, and local inventors soon began building their own. Maurice and Charles Blood led the way with a diminutive 1902 model. Other locally produced automobiles included the Cannon Flyer, Cornelian, Michigan, Barley, Handley-Knight and Wolverine. The rakish Roamer was produced from 1917 to 1929. The most successful, the Checker taxicab, saw production from 1923 to 1982.