regional transit authority

For years, the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) has been trying — and failing — to garner support for a coordinated mass transit system that would connect Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw Counties.

In 2016, a slim majority of voters in those four counties rejected the RTA’s proposal for a public transit millage to fund the plan. Two years later, the proposal failed to make the 2018 ballot after board members from Oakland and Macomb Counties refused to approve it. 

The RTA recently released an updated plan that lays out its vision for regional mobility in southeast Michigan.

A nonpartisan policy group says Michigan needs to do more to improve regional transit in urban areas.

A recent report from the Citizens Research Council (CRC) of Michigan said regional transit is key to economic development, revitalizing communities, reducing pollution and traffic congestion, improving residents' mobility, and reducing stress on roads and parking infrastructure.

Regional transit will not make it onto the ballot in Detroit and surrounding counties this November. 

The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan proposed a millage for Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland, and Macomb counties, but leaders from Oakland and Macomb County have refused to support it. 

Andy Meisner is the Oakland County Treasurer and Brad Williams is the Detroit Regional Chamber's VP for Government Relations. Both joined Stateside’s Lester Graham to discuss where the region goes from here. 

The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is expected to make a final decision Thursday on whether it will let residents vote on the latest proposal to expand public transit in Southeast Michigan.

Barring a last minute change of heart from Oakland County leader L. Brooks Patterson and Macomb County's Mark Hackel, voters will likely not get the opportunity to weigh in.  

Meanwhile, Southeast Michigan continues to rank as one of the worst metro areas for public transit in the nation, which would come as no surprise for anyone who's had to use buses to get to Novi.

One hot topic at the Mackinac Policy Conference this week is the future of regional transportation in Southeast Michigan — particularly a proposed millage to fund the expansion of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan.

Daniel Howes is a Detroit News business columnist. He speaks with Stateside about regional divide and larger issues at the core of the RTA debate. 

Michigan Radio’s Issues & Ale team hit the road again Wednesday night. This time, they stopped at Fillmore 13 Brewery in Pontiac to talk about the future of regional mass transit.

Two years ago, southeast Michigan voted down what I think may have been the region’s best chance at a sensible and affordable regional transit service.

As the old saying goes: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

That applied today as Wayne County Executive Warren Evans went to the Regional Transit Authority board to offer a revised regional transit plan.

Former Governor John Engler will donate his salary while serving as Michigan State University's interim president. Engler took over the role after Lou Anna Simon resigned amid criticism over MSU's handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

Engler's appointment has drawn both praise and criticism. This Week in Review, Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth and senior news analyst Jack Lessenberry talk about how he's doing so far. 

Earlier this week, Stateside spoke to Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Chair Andy LaBarre about their counties’ consideration of a transit plan that would include links between Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit.

Macomb and Oakland county leaders appeared to distance themselves from supporting a ballot proposal for a four county regional transit system.

At one point, it appeared the leaders of Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties, along with the city of Detroit, were on their way to supporting a ballot proposal this fall for a regional mass transit plan.

That got derailed when the county executives in Oakland and Macomb distanced themselves from the plan.

It's back to the drawing board for those who've been working towards a true regional transportation system for Southeast Michigan.

A slim majority of voters across Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties last week rejected the regional transit millage. And it will be two years before the RTA can try again.

Stateside was joined by the President and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Baruah, who had been hoping the RTA millage would pass. 

In this Week in Review, Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth and senior news analyst Jack Lessenberry discuss the results of Election 2016, now that the dust has had time to settle.

If you favored the Regional Transit Authority millage, you saw a big step towards the connected, regional transportation system that’s never existed in Southeast Michigan.

If you opposed it, you saw a tax hike for services you likely don’t need or care about.

The opposition won. Southeast Michigan voters said “no” to the RTA millage.

Megan Owens of Transportation Riders United spoke with us today.

After a long, grueling campaign season, Election Day is only 20 days away. This Week in Michigan Politics, Jack Lessenberry and Doug Tribou look at ballot battles in southeast Michigan, including an unusual situation in Macomb County, where a Clinton Township Trustee who's running for supervisor is facing bribery charges.

They also discuss L. Brooks Patterson's bid for a seventh term as Oakland County Executive and a mass transit millage proposal in metro Detroit.

The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan’s new transportation plan needs money. On the November ballot, voters in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties will be asked to approve a 20-year property tax millage. Its estimated cost for the average homeowner is about $95 a year.

The millage will pay for new bus rapid transit lines and rail service between Detroit and Ann Arbor. It would also fix what has been a dysfunctional transit system that never really connected the suburban SMART buses with the Detroit Department of Transportation bus system.

The state primary results are in, so what's to come in November? This Week in Review, Jack Lessenberry and Rebecca Kruth discuss voter turnout and races to watch on the road to Election Day. They also talk about a resurrected plan to bring regional transit funding to southeast Michigan and a dispute over the state's emergency manager law that's playing out in federal court.

A millage proposal to fund major transit improvements in Metro Detroit isn’t dead yet—but it’s very close.

That’s because the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority couldn’t muster the votes to put the measure on the November ballot Thursday.

The millage would have raised about $3 billion (estimates vary) over 20 years. It would have helped fund a $4.6 billion master plan to upgrade Metro Detroit’s lackluster, fragmented transit systems.

But the board couldn’t put together enough votes, because of opposition from Oakland and Macomb county leaders.

It's no secret that the mass transit picture in Southeast Michigan is beyond dismal.

A staggering 92% of jobs in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties are not reachable by public transportation.

A $4.6 billion, 20-year plan to expand public transportation would address this problem by setting up the Regional Transit Authority. But today, officials from Macomb and Oakland counties voted to reject the plan.