The Senior Mobility Outreach Project is up and running.  TRU is partnering with the Area Agency on Aging 1-B, Data Driven Detroit, SMART, Hannan Foundation, The Senior Alliance, Detroit Area Agency on Aging and other Regional Elder Mobility Alliance members. REMA is a coalition of agencies representing aging/disability and transit professionals dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in southeast Michigan through the maximization of mobility options and the delivery of multi-modal transportation services.

This project is designed to meet three objectives: 1) gather data about unmet senior mobility needs; 2) inform and engage seniors and community leaders on the benefits of enhancing safe senior mobility; and 3) promote current and future transit options that can improve quality of life. We're targeting seniors (65 years and older) in four communities - Hamtramck, Inkster, St. Clair Shores, and Waterford -- during the 18-month  project.

There are several ways you can help - volunteer for community events or serve on one of the 3 work groups. We'll be conducting surveys in St. Clair Shores on Sept. 14 & 15 from 9:00 am - 12 noon. Contact Ruth at 313-963-8872 or Ruth@DetroitTransit.org to sign up or for more information. You can also join the REMA Google Group to keep informed about the Project activities.

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SEMCOG and the region’s transit providers will be conducting an on-board transit survey – TravelCount’10 – beginning in the early fall. The purpose of the survey is to gather current ridership data for transportation planning efforts, future forecasting, and for submitting federal grant applications and to help improve the transit system. Survey/data collection will begin on September 20 starting on DDOT buses and continuing on SMART, the PeopleMover, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA), University of Michigan, Blue Water Area Transportation Commission, and Lake Erie Transit. The survey should take riders 3-10 minutes to complete. Look for frequently asked questions and updates on the survey at www.semcog.org/On-boardTransitSurvey.aspx. Contact: SEMCOG Information Center.

Several times a year, DDOT makes adjustments to its bus routes and schedules to better serve its riders.  Starting September 4, changes will go into effect for a dozen DDOT routes:

• Additional runs will be added to assist DPS students.

• The bus stop located on Grand River between Griswold and Washington Blvd. will be moved. Passengers traveling outbound (north) will now board at a new location on Michigan Ave. east of Cass. The bus routes affected by this change are:
  • #16 – Dexter
  • #18 – Fenkell
  • #23 – Hamilton
  • #53 – Woodward

• Other routes have additional runs, changes in wait times, and other adjustments.  See the DDOT service alert for all the changes.  
  

The City of Detroit is embarking on a comprehensive planning process to devise a land use plan that will help shape the future of the city.

“We have an opportunity to reinvent Detroit like never before. Every Detroiter has a voice and a role in this process.”

Mayor Dave Bing, March 2010

• Tuesday, September 14
  • Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile Road (NW)
• Thursday, September 16
  • American Serbian Memorial Hall, 19940 Van Dyke Street (NE)
• Saturday, September 18
  • Whittier Manor, 415 Burns Drive (SE)
• Tuesday, September 21
  • El Kiosko Banquet Hall, 7271 Dix Street (SW)
• Wednesday, September 22
  • Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Avenue (Central)

Members of the Ann Arbor-Detroit Regional Rail Project Team will host a booth at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival August 20-22, 2010.  Stop by the booth to learn more about progress being made on the project.

For more info (or to invite them to another event), contact: Carmine Palombo, SEMCOG Director of Transportation Programs.

Don't miss this Saturday's meetings
on Woodward Light Rail!

• The City of Detroit published an official Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the 9.3 mile light rail line.  The project proposes to implement light rail transit service from downtown Detroit near the Detroit River, and extend northwest along Woodward Avenue (M-1) terminating near Eight-Mile Road (M-102).

• Interested parties may provide comments on the scope of the EIS, including the project’s purpose and need, the alternatives to be considered, the potential environmental and community impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used in the evaluations.  Project staff will be available at the meeting to informally discuss the EIS scope and the proposed project.
  

• Written comments may be sent to Ms. Tricia Harr, AICP, Federal Transit Administration Headquarters, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, E43-105, Washington D.C. 20590 or email woodwardlightrail@detroitmi.gov on or before September 13, 2010.
  

• Arrangements for those with special needs may contact (313) 961-1940 or lphillips@pierce-monroe.com prior to the meeting.

While one election is now over, another election is right around the corner.  And while transit isn't on the ballot, you can make sure the candidates who are know that transit matters.  The next ten weeks will be filled with ample opportunities to talk with those candidates who survived the primaries and

• "Are you willing to adequately fund the documented transportation needs in our state (including a tripling of transit funding)?"
  
• "Given that over 70% of voters approved the SMART millage, do you support increasing local funding options, like allowing a vote on a local sales tax?"
• "If so many local transit millages are passing (15 out of 16 this year), why is state support for transit still shrinking, from a high of 50% of local budgets to below 30% today?"
  

Our friends at the Michigan Public Transit Association report that 15 of the 16 public transit millage requests were approved throughout Michigan.  Most of these, like SMART, were by more than 60% support!  These include:

• Bay County
• Branch County (70% support)
  
• Clare County (61% support)
  
• Genesee County
• Ingham County (two proposals)
• Lapeer (67% support)
  
• Mason County (two proposals)
• Saginaw County
• Shiawassee Area - Caledonia Twp (61% support)
  
• St. Joseph County
• Van Buren County (68% support)
  
• Wexford County
• Wayne, Oakland & Macomb Counties (SMART)

Even the Detroit News supports the RTA, editorializing that "A true regional authority is needed to coordinate city, suburban bus lines and rail"

"Detroit's light rail enterprise is speeding along. . .  But for the plan to succeed it is necessary for Metro Detroit to establish a transportation body with actual power to make decisions. . . . 

The region needs much better coordination between its current bus lines and the new rail line. It needs one guiding authority to make decisions and allocate resources for the transit system, if it is truly to be a system. . . .

Megan Owens, executive director of Detroit public transit advocacy nonprofit Transit Riders United, says that if light rail is going to expand beyond Eight Mile, as she hopes it will, a regional transportation authority would prove "incredibly helpful and necessary." A unified transit authority also would be an essential ingredient in securing a long-term funding solution. . . .

A developed light rail system could be good news for Detroit and surrounding communities. A regional transit authority is essential, however, in determining its success."

Detroit area media were excited to report on this morning's press conference about Woodward Light Rail progress:

Detroit News: Detroit moves forward with plan for light-rail project

• Construction on the Woodward Light Rail project is expected to begin next year.
  
• The first phase of the project that would begin in 2011 will stretch from downtown to West Grand Boulevard, approximately 3.4 miles. The second phase will go from Grand Boulevard to Eight Mile and is estimated to be completed by 2016. 
  
• The first public meeting regarding the Woodward Light Rail Project will be held Aug. 14 at the Considine Little Rock Family Life Center.

• Megan Owens, executive director of Detroit public transit advocacy organization Transit Riders United, said light rail on Woodward would offer a "critical kick start" to building out a larger regional system over the coming decade.

• U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is scheduled to announce today that the project is beginning the 12- to 18-month process of putting together the environmental impact statement. His department oversees the process and will determine if the project will be awarded funding.
• The goal is not just to get a project that is environmentally clear; the goal is also to get one you can fund.  Detroit will be competing with other cities for the New Starts money.

• The project has been entered into the Federal Register, the first step in the environmental impact statement process. Successful completion of the project is needed to qualify the rail effort for up to 80 percent of federal funding for capital costs, most of which would come from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program.
  

The Complete Streets bills passed the Senate and were just signed into law by Governor Granholm, becoming Public Acts 134 and 135 of 2010.

Complete Streets policies ensure that engineers and planners design roadways to accommodate all users, not just motorists. A complete street allows pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and those with disabilities to easily and safely use roads in their communities.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make this possible! Bravo to the amazing coalition, led by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, the Michigan Environmental Council, and AARP.

Of course the work is just beginning. These bills really just set the stage for implementing Complete Streets throughout Michigan.

Detroit's new subway!  Sadly, its just for a movie filming. 

Detroit News: Editorial: Voters should renew SMART millage
"SMART does its job well. It is efficient and cost effective. And it is most likely the system that will lead the way into the future."

Oakland Press: Millage renewals a bargain for Oakland
"Even in these rough economic times, we’re advocating for passage of millage proposals for Oakland Community College, Oakland County Parks and SMART, the suburban bus system.  All three entities have provided invaluable service to Oakland County."

Crain's Detroit Business editorial: SMART vote in primary is ‘yes'
"It's tempting for voters to dismiss a tax request if they don't use the service. But a quality bus system is a necessity for the region's economy. . . . We hope voters say “yes.”

Detroit Free Press (editorial): Efficient SMART system needs millage renewal
"Southeast Michigan can claim one (transit) success: The suburban bus system -- now called SMART -- has, since 1967, run an efficient, if underfunded, regional transit system that now serves 40,000 riders a day. . . .On Aug. 3, voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties should vote to maintain SMART by approving a 0.59-mill property tax renewal."

Detroit Free Press: Improving metro Detroit's bus system would be a win for all of us

Detroit Free Press (editorial): Turn SMART support into transit progress

On July 26, 1990, President George H. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities. This legislation established a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.

The ADA has expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions, increasing full participation in community life. However, the full promise of the ADA will only be reached if public entities remain committed in their efforts to fully implement the ADA.

On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, TRU celebrates and recognizes the progress that has been made by reaffirming the principals of equality and inclusion and recommitting our efforts to reach full ADA compliance.

Every few years, most southeast Michigan voters have a chance to renew their support for SMART bus service by voting on the small millage that funds SMART service.  That chance is now.

The Center for Michigan hosted community conversations and town hall meetings with 10,000 residents from Escanaba to Detroit and summarized those findings in Michigan’s Defining Moment: 10,000 Voices.

They recently published an analysis of the gubernatorial candidate's take on issues beyond job creation and found interest in transit to be lacking:

"Michigan citizens want to get back to work – but they’re also anxious to see the state’s new leader address quality of life issues . . .

Most candidates say they “support” quality of life investment, but their platforms, with a couple of exceptions, are vague on specifics if they even mention issues like the state’s cultural institutions and mass transit. . . .

It’s clear that most candidates feel more public transport investment is something out-of-work Michigan can’t afford right now.

“Mass transit isn’t a lure to business,” said Bouchard. “What really drives it is low taxes and competitive regulation.”

George points to his track record supporting light rail along Woodward Avenue through a private/public funding structure, and adds that when funding permits, he’d like to see all of the state’s rails-to-trails routes interconnected as part of a physical fitness initiative.

Cox wants to ensure that no road dollars from gasoline taxes are diverted to other uses. . . ."

National update from our friends at Transportation for America:

Today's news brings great hope that the leak in the Gulf of Mexico is finally capped. But our work is far from done.

We still haven't addressed the root cause behind the spill - the fact that our transportation system consumes 70% of the oil we use, driving us to riskier measures to obtain more oil.

In response to this disaster, the Senate is quickly trying to move energy legislation before the upcoming August recess. This bill could be the beginning of the end of our oil dependency, or it could be yet another missed opportunity.

Write to your senators today to tell them to support a climate and energy package that includes clean transportation options and reduces our dependency on dirty oil.

Exxon Valdez. Love Canal. Cuyahoga River. These are just a few examples of high-profile environmental disasters that resulted in the swift enactment of landmark environmental laws.  We face a similar choice today.

It's time to kick our addiction to oil and we simply can't do it unless clean transportation is part of the solution.

Note - The SMART millage renewal will be on the ballot in all areas currently covered by SMART service. 

This includes all of Macomb County along with southeast Oakland County, Downriver, the Grosse Pointes, and parts of western Wayne County.  SMART serves 75 communities in southeast Michigan. 

SEMCOG announced that Wednesday, July 7 is the first Ozone Action day of 2010.

Several days of hot, humid weather, high temperatures, little wind, and little chance of rain have contributed to the high concentrations of ground-level ozone (aka smog) expected.  Elevated levels can be a health hazard, particularly for the elderly, the young, and those suffering from respiratory ailments such as emphysema or asthma.

Please remember things you can do to help keep the air clean on the region's first Ozone Action day of the season:

• Reduce automobile use on Ozone Action days. Plan to carpool, use public transit, walk, or work at home.
• Try not to refuel on Ozone Action days. If you need to refuel on an Ozone Action day, fill up in the evening when the weather is cooler and don't "top off" the tank.
• Relax on Ozone Action days. Choose the lawn chair over the lawn mower.

Quick question - how much have you heard about the SMART millage renewal?

Have you seen newspaper articles or TV stories? 
Have you gotten any mailings? 
Are your friends talking about it?

Take our quick poll and find out if your results are common!

Then help us spread the word! 

There are lots of ways you can help:

• Email friends
• Tell-a-friend postcards
• Pass out flyers at community events
• Post it on Facebook
• Invite a speaker to your group's July meeting
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper
• And much more!

Our friends at the Millennial Mayors Congress want to hear from 18-35 year olds in southeast Michigan!  What’s fabulous, and what’s frustrating about living in metro Detroit? Inform community leaders by taking the survey.

Responses will be collected until October 1. An analysis will be provided to community leaders across metro Detroit and inform the Millennial Mayors Congress’ new regional visioning initiative.

In case you're not familiar, the Millennial Mayors Congress is a partnership of city officials and rising leaders working together to address regional challenges in metro Detroit, convened and staffed by the Michigan Suburbs Alliance.