The Regional Transit Authority Is Not Giving Up On Bringing Mass Transit To Metro Detroit

TROY, MI — The Regional Transit Authority RTA millage, which would have brought mass transit to Metro Detroit for the first time in history, was narrowly defeated in this week's election.

Post-election, what happens now? How will the Metro Detroiters who can't afford cars get around? Will the Motor City ever expand beyond being a motor city only-zone?

The RTA sure is working on it - and is only increasing its efforts to bring mass transit to Metro Detroit. Michael Ford, Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Transit Authority of southeastern Michigan, told Patch "This is something that needs to happen. It didn't happen this time but the need doesn't go away. The need intensifies. Good public transportation is really an economic benefit to the region. Businesses will come here, it attracts youth and talent, property values go up, elderly can stay in their houses. There's a lot that transportation puts in our economy. Transportation that stays dormant doesn't benefit the economy."

Many critics of the RTA millage argue that mass transit is dated and instead point to Uber and car sharing as the transportation methods of the future. Ford counters, "I hear them but if you look at any metropolitan city that's driving cars, they also have transit. Car sharing and Uber are all good ways to get around but you still need mass transit for exponentially more people to get quicker to hospitals or jobs. We want to address the elderly and disabled, seniors, people needing services, Millennials, people going to ball games, jobs or anywhere. 90% of people in southeast Michigan don't have access to get to public transportation within an hour to get to their jobs. Working collaboratively and addressing holes and gaps in the system where transportation is scare and not populated is really the key."

Another big key? Getting Macomb county on board. Macomb voters overwhelmingly voted down the millage with 222,806 "no" votes and 148,159 "yes" votes. Why the resistance? Ford says, "I have to look at the data and understand some of the issues that might be in the northern and western areas and address more transportation needs there. We'll reach out and talk to people to find out what their specific concerns are and how we can address them."

Right now, the RTA is moving full steam ahead in its mass transit endeavors. Ford is meeting with staff to do a reassessment and pinpoint next steps. Ford says, "We'll do whatever we can to move this opportunity forward and in the interim if there are other services we can put out we will, if we secure additional funding. We're going to do everything we can."

Photo by Brandur Ossursson via Flickr Commons