[5] Of the 22 Michigan stations served by Amtrak, Pontiac was the 16th-busiest in fiscal year 2015, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 43 passengers daily.

[7] Since August 1931 the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTWR, a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway) provided commuter rail service from Pontiac to Detroit.

[13][14] Construction of the original Pontiac Transportation Center began in the late 1970s, funded by a US$3 million (equivalent to $12,600,000 in 2023) loan from the MDOT, and the new facility was opened in May 1983, serving both buses and a commuter rail service to Detroit.

[18] Upon completion, the facility was initially served by SEMTA's Silver Streak, with service to Detroit (with the next eastbound stop being in Bloomfield Hills).

Within six months of completion, however, the SEMTA commuter rail service was canceled, leaving the transportation center to serve only three buses a day.

[16] A temporary station was erected on site that served Amtrak customers for the next three years until the replacement transportation center was completed.

[3] Unlike the former facility, which had been anticipated to be grand multi-use building, the new center was fairly simple and intended to address just the existing and new future transportation needs.