Regional transit in Southeast Michigan took a major hit this month.
"Metro Detroit had an opportunity to vastly upgrade its public transportation system this past election," writes Aaron Mondry in a recent article on income inequality for Model D. "A proposal was on the ballot that would have collected a millage across four Southeastern Michigan counties to fund a Regional Transit Authority for the implementation of BRT lines, commuter rail between Detroit and Ann Arbor, commuter routes, airport routes, and more."
But the proposal failed by about 18,000 votes.
A recent article in Next City details how Metro Detroit can move on from this setback and learn from other cities with robust regional transit systems. "Michael Ford, CEO of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) of Southeast Michigan—the group that sought the 20-year, $3 billion property tax for new and improved bus and train service—said the organization will look in particular at what made initiatives successful in Seattle and Los Angeles," writes Jen Kinney.
Some of those lessons include better advocacy for the plan and taxing districts instead of whole counties.
Click here to read the article.