A complete circuit takes about fifteen minutes, and trains run every three to five minutes. The DPM opened in June 1987. Ridership has been rather light, approximately 5-10,000 per day. It was originally intended to be the downtown distributor for a rapid-transit system which was not built. The guideway runs alongside Beaubien Street between the Renaissance Center and Greektown.
All stations have some kind of artwork.
The exterior of the Greektown station has colored abstract figures with neon lights. Near the Cadillac Square station, the guideway runs next to a big hole in the ground which was once the site of Hudson's department store. The Grand Circus Park station was temporarily closed while the building that it is attached to was being renovated. Approaching the Times Square station, we see the diverging track for the storage and maintainance facility, in a view from the front window of a train. Unlike other people-mover systems in the U.S., this one uses steel wheels on steel rails.