The People Mover is supplemented by the QLINE streetcar, which connects the system with Midtown, New Center, and the Detroit Amtrak station.

[4] In 1964 the creation of the federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) allowed stronger investment into cities' declining transit systems.

By the late 1960s there was gaining momentum for exploring new forms of transit to improve the quality of urban life, and UMTA's scope was expanded for development of such systems.

In addition, UMTA decided they would approve proposals from Baltimore, Detroit, and Miami to develop People Mover systems if they could do so with existing grant commitments.

Of the seven cities with UMTA approval for their People Mover proposals, only Detroit and Miami persevered to build and operate systems.

[citation needed] Ford previously developed the ACT, a rubber-tired monorail, which was exhibited at Transpo '72; a production version of the system ran at Fairlane Town Center in nearby Dearborn from 1976 to 1988.

[9][10] The People Mover was intended to be the downtown distributor for a proposed city and metro-wide light rail transit system for Detroit in the early 1980s; however, funding was scaled back.

Inability of local leaders to come to an agreement led to the $600 million commitment being withdrawn by the Reagan administration, though plans for the People Mover still moved forward.

DTC was incorporated in 1985 as a Michigan Public Body Corporate for the purpose of acquiring, owning, constructing, furnishing, equipping, completing, operating, improving, enlarging, and/or disposing of the Central Automated Transit Systems (CATS).

[17] A ceremony was held the Financial District station, with appearances by Mayor Coleman Young and People Mover supporter Max Fisher.

After opening speeches and awards, Young and Fisher cut a five-foot-long cake shaped like a People Mover car, and boarded the inaugural run.

[citation needed] In October 1998, the implosion of the J. L. Hudson Department Store damaged part of the nearby People Mover track and forced the system to shut down.

[citation needed] During construction of Compuware World Headquarters, the Cadillac Center station was temporarily closed as part of the parking structure was built around it.

This was part of a multi-year renovation of the Renaissance Center, in which concrete berms in front of the complex were removed to make it more inviting to the rest of downtown.

Trains continued to operate in a one-way loop, bypassing Grand Circus Park, for most of the station's closure, though the line was briefly split into two segments (with transfers at Millender Center) while part of the track was closed.

After a planned 2021 reopening was postponed,[33] the system resumed limited service on May 20, 2022, running six days a week, stopping at only six of the 13 stations (Michigan Avenue, Huntington Place, West Riverfront, Millender Center, Greektown, Grand Circus Park).

[39] In December 2023, DTC's board of directors approved a one-year pilot program to eliminate fares on the People Mover, supported by a large donation from a corporate sponsor.

[42] Also in December 2023, DTC announced plans to acquire railcars and other surplus equipment from the Toronto Transit Commission, following the decommissioning of the Scarborough RT, a similar system, the prior July.

Realtime tracking was added, and each station received upgraded public address and video surveillance systems,[45] plus new passenger information displays and interactive kiosks.

[46][47] Color-changing lights were installed on guideway support columns along Larned Street and Grand Circus Park,[48][49] and five stations received large exterior murals as part of the Detroit City Walls public art program.

In 2006, it was reported that the People Mover cost $8.3 million annually in city and state subsidies to run,[54] and the system has drawn criticism for its cost-effectiveness.

Edward Glaeser, in his 2011 book, Triumph of the City, referring to high cost of maintenance, calls the Mover "perhaps the most absurd public transit project in the country".

[58] New stops would have included the Amtrak station, Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center, and Henry Ford Hospital.

The People Mover's fleet consists of twelve automated Intermediate Capacity Transit System Mark I cars, built by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation in Kingston, Ontario.

[43][44] These railcars operated on the Scarborough RT until its closure, and were extensively refurbished and upgraded in the 2010s, allowing them a longer service lifespan than the People Mover's existing cars, despite being of similar age.

[60] The purchase of these railcars was first announced in December 2023, and also includes surplus parts to repair the People Mover's existing vehicles in the interim.

Delivery and integration of the newly purchased cars is expected to take 18 months, with the first of them slated to enter service in late 2025 or early 2026.

DTC initially hired Detroit-based City Shield Security Services for the People Mover, before switching to Securitas in April 2023.

[citation needed] In addition to major downtown concerts and sporting events, other high ridership times include the week of the annual North American International Auto Show in January and the Youmacon anime convention at the end of October, ever since the convention expanded in 2012 to use Huntington Place in addition to the Renaissance Center.

However, in 1984, after construction had recently begun, Irene Walt assembled a volunteer committee to persuade the project agency to include artwork in each station.