On Tuesday, May 31, the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) unveiled it’s proposed Regional Transit Master Plan for how to improve and expand transit throughout the four counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne, including the City of Detroit.
It’s a great plan that would make huge strides in addressing our region’s transit needs.
Built from nearly two years of public input and data analysis, the plan will help address key challenges throughout the region:
- Because our lives don’t end at our county borders, the plan includes seamless cross county connector buses on ten major corridors.
- To ensure we can get to the airport without spending an arm and a leg on parking or taxis, the plan provides Airport Express service throughout the region.
- Because people need quick reliable ways to get to work, school, doctors, and elsewhere, the plan includes rapid transit buses and a regional train.
- To ensure people can get to jobs, the plan provides expansions and extensions of existing bus service into new areas that currently lack transit.
- Because no one should feel trapped in their homes when they no longer drive, the plan includes expanded transit services for seniors and people with disabilities.
Please help spread the word about the plan to ensure everything throughout southeast Michigan knows about it and how it will benefit our region. TRU created a two-page summary of the plan and the need for it that you can download and print.
TRU submitted official comments supporting the plan and recommending ways it could be improved.
The RTA Board is scheduled to vote July 21 on the plan and the ballot language that will enable our region to vote on the funding needed to implement this great plan on the November 8 ballot.
There has been enormous media coverage of the plan. Here’s just a taste:
- Crain’s Detroit: Regional Transit Authority will seek $2.9 billion millage in November for buses, rail
- Detroit Free Press: RTA plan draws excited crowd, but critics mention cost
- Local 4: RTA unveils ambitious public transit plan for southeast Michigan
- MLive: Tax proposed for Detroit-to-Ann Arbor rail and other regional transit plans
RTA CEO Michael Ford introduced the Regional Transit Master Plan. - Detroit Free Press: Editorial: It’s time to get metro Detroit’s broken transit system right
- Detroit News: Editorial: Editorial: RTA vital for region, but may be tough sell
- Detroit Unspun: Regional transit system is worth more than you might think to Detroit and Southeast Michigan and their residents
- Daily Detroit: 8 Things You Need To Know About Detroit’s New Mass Transit Plan
- WXYZ: Metro Detroit voters will be asked to back mass transit tax (5/31/16)