Narrating the Woodward Avenue (Detroit) light rail project, with rap and legos

News tip courtesy of BikePortland.org

As an advocate, what do you do when you feel passionate about a project and want to convince others to share your perspective? If you’re Detroit-based transportation activist Joel Batterman, you get out some Legos and planning documents, write a rap song, set it all to music and make a hilariously wonky and informative video.

Batterman released his video last week and it’s already got well over 10,000 views on YouTube:

Batterman, a former Portland, Oregon resident who now runs TransportMichigan.org and is a student at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, says his mission with the video is to educate Detroit residents about what’s at stake with the Woodward Avenue light rail project. “The private investors want the last three miles to run in traffic [curbside] like the Portland Streetcar,” he told BikePortland.org. “That doesn’t serve the goal of rapid, reliable regional transit. For the sake of effective transit and environmental justice, I and other local transit advocates think that should be the priority, just like it was in Portland.”

With his video, Batterman has taken a confusing set of project options and given them new life in a way that is much easier for everyday citizens to comprehend. “I know everyone loves to curl up in an armchair with a thousand-page environmental impact statement,” he says, “but some people might just not have the time or the inclination. In fact, we’ve considered asking the Feds to mandate the use of music videos in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process, since they may reach a wider audience.”