1 in 5 SMART bus routes to be eliminated Dec. 12th!!!

[sturge]

List of changes: http://www.smartbus.org/newsinfo/pub...e-Changes.aspx

I received this email too for a public hearing:

Due to the significant decrease in revenue and increased fuel and healthcare costs, SMART is seeking public input on proposed service changes. SMART encourages its riders and any citizen to attend the public hearings to better understand the issues at hand. Citizens will have the opportunity to contribute their comments.

The public hearings are scheduled for:

November 3rd, 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
City of Dearborn Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
15801 Michigan Avenue, Club Room #1
Dearborn, MI

November 7th, 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
City of Pleasant Ridge Community Center
4 Ridge Road
Pleasant Ridge, MI

November 9th, 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
City of Roseville Council Chambers
29777 Gratiot Avenue
Roseville, MI


For those who are unable to attend the hearings, written comments will be accepted through November 10, 2011.

Send written comments to:
SMART Administrative Offices
535 Griswold Street, Suite 600
Detroit, MI 48226
Attention: Public Hearings

Send email comments to: publichearing@smartbus.org

[Scottathew]

It'd probably be more like a network of roads thrown around haphazardly and completely inefficient...

I agree with you.

I've met with pure-libertarians before that believe nothing should be provided publicly, including roads, fire protection, and K-12 education.

While I respect their point of view, I don't agree with it.

[Danny]

I got to get to those meetings.

[Jowlska]

I am outraged and have voiced my concerns to SMART. All these politicians need to get on board or get out! What the hell....

[professorscott]

Anybody have any creative ideas here? If you only have two dollars you can't pay out three. The essential problems SMART has are three:

[[1) The SMART millage is a function of property values, and these have declined precipitously as fuel prices have gone up. So that source of revenue is way down, while one of the major expense categories is way up.
[[2) Other than Macomb County, communities can choose not to participate at all. This by itself makes SMART unsustainable over the long term. [[Look at all the weird changes they had to make when Livonia decided to put a 36 square mile hole in the middle of Wayne County.)
[[3) When times were good, the unions were able to negotiate gold-plated contracts that are one of the reason's SMART's operating costs are very high.

To fix SMART you have to fix at least one of those problems and probably at least two of them. [[Also unlock the ridiculous formula that forces cuts in state revenue to SMART whenever DDOT cuts service.)

[Russix]

Anybody have any creative ideas here? If you only have two dollars you can't pay out three. The essential problems SMART has are three:

[[1) The SMART millage is a function of property values, and these have declined precipitously as fuel prices have gone up. So that source of revenue is way down, while one of the major expense categories is way up.
[[2) Other than Macomb County, communities can choose not to participate at all. This by itself makes SMART unsustainable over the long term. [[Look at all the weird changes they had to make when Livonia decided to put a 36 square mile hole in the middle of Wayne County.)
[[3) When times were good, the unions were able to negotiate gold-plated contracts that are one of the reason's SMART's operating costs are very high.

To fix SMART you have to fix at least one of those problems and probably at least two of them. [[Also unlock the ridiculous formula that forces cuts in state revenue to SMART whenever DDOT cuts service.)

1) Copy and Pasted a model from a nearby large metro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiona...08_legislation

2) Change Opt-out from Community to County-wide [[IE. Is Washtenaw in or on their own?) Livonia's drop out sliced more than 36 square miles, more like serverely crippled transit in a county sized area consisting of southern Oakland and NW Wayne counties.

3) Change union worker pay from negotiated contracts to a function of the economy/revenue

[JenniferL]

The people who rely on the 450, 460, and 495 busses are totally fcked. There is NO WAY the DDOTs can accomodate all those additional passengers. Both the SMART and DDOT busses are standing room only as it is-- and this is during non-peak hours. It will literally take two hours to get from 8 Mile to downtown. Plus, that bus terminal at the Fairgrounds is scary! You're in this turnaround area with a bunch of bus shelters and there's nothing else except the vacant Fairgrounds and the cemetery across the street.

[professorscott]

The people who rely on the 450, 460, and 495 busses are totally fcked. There is NO WAY the DDOTs can accomodate all those additional passengers. Both the SMART and DDOT busses are standing room only as it is-- and this is during non-peak hours. It will literally take two hours to get from 8 Mile to downtown. Plus, that bus terminal at the Fairgrounds is scary! You're in this turnaround area with a bunch of bus shelters and there's nothing else except the vacant Fairgrounds and the cemetery across the street.

Everybody in the City and the suburbs is "totally fcked", as you put it, if the service continues to grind down toward nothing. The service as it already is today is wholly inadequate. The resolution requires, among other things, money, and the money has to come from ourselves.

[JenniferL]

Everybody in the City and the suburbs is "totally fcked", as you put it, if the service continues to grind down toward nothing. The service as it already is today is wholly inadequate. The resolution requires, among other things, money, and the money has to come from ourselves.

I did not mean to imply that those who ride the other routes are not also fcked; it's just that those are the routes I know firsthand. I wrote to SMART shortly after I wrote the above post. I said pretty much what I said here, except I used more polite language.

[Russix]

I did not mean to imply that those who ride the other routes are not also fcked; it's just that those are the routes I know firsthand. I wrote to SMART shortly after I wrote the above post. I said pretty much what I said here, except I used more polite language.

The number of riders commuting on the former 305 Grand River dropped 75% after they switched to a DDOT to City Limits style system proposed for the arterials. So I guess problem solved casue people lose their jobs on the route and go somewhere else. Problem is now where to? This happened to me in 2006 and it becomes faster to ride your bike to the suburbs[[keep in mind Grand River is the longest arterial in the city) than to use this style of system. Oh yeah the 21 DDOT became a death trap after that as well during the day.

[stasu1213]

This might be another plot to manipulate residents who work in the suburbs to move out of Detroit so they could be closer to their jobs.

[Zacha341]

Basically! And I'm one of those folk 'temporarily' in between cars. But not for long! I don't plan on being a victim to this - trapped and jacked. You're basically unable to work [[at a job requiring 'timely' arrivals) or get out of the city for commerce of business with this mess between DDOT and SMART! You just cannot live in this town without a car!!!

So fuck the people who have to travel from the suburbs to Detroit and vice-versa.

[epiphany]

Considering how busy the 200 and mich ddot is, there is no way that ddot will be able to handle the additional smart 200 passengers. I may not be able to get to school. I already leave 2 hours early as is and thanks to ddot I am still occassionaly late. This is outrageous.

[Zacha341]

All I can suggest is try to get a 'run-about' inexpensive car. That's what I did when in school. I teach at the college level and try to be understanding to my students running late. I know they are not exaggerating the bus situation. It's a mess out there.

[English]

The AARP generation will never be convinced, bailey. They put up their middle finger at their parents the second they came of age, and now they're busily burning all the bridges THEY crossed so that their children and grandchildren will have to build an entire society from scratch.

As early as the 1980s, my mom was complaining about how badly her generation sucked. I thought she was being harsh -- I think they made some of the music we'll ever hear. Other than that? Um.

[Zacha341]

Good observation Eng... I've seen it and blinked, then realized nothing was wrong with my eyes!

[bailey]

The AARP generation will never be convinced, bailey. They put up their middle finger at their parents the second they came of age, and now they're busily burning all the bridges THEY crossed so that their children and grandchildren will have to build an entire society from scratch.

Yup. which is precisely the reason nothing will change around here when it comes to regional mass transit. Those with the most influence to change things, at best, don't want it or, at worst, feel it's some sort of unnecessary waste of money to have a functioning, coherent regional mass transit system radiating from Downtown. They don't need it. They won't use it. Whatever get's built will never serve them. So, they don't want to pay for it. To them the need is to keep up the 8 lanes on M-59 so they can get from the cul du sac off 23 mile where they live to Partridge Creek without getting bogged down in too much traffic.

[professorscott]

Considering how busy the 200 and mich ddot is, there is no way that ddot will be able to handle the additional smart 200 passengers. I may not be able to get to school. I already leave 2 hours early as is and thanks to ddot I am still occassionaly late. This is outrageous.

Plus, the DDOT Michigan Avenue bus only runs once every 45 minutes, and fills up pretty well itself, so every DDOT bus is going to have to handle the passengers from two or three SMART buses! Really?!

[epiphany]

Plus, the DDOT Michigan Avenue bus only runs once every 45 minutes, and fills up pretty well itself, so every DDOT bus is going to have to handle the passengers from two or three SMART buses! Really?!

It won't be possible. This morning I took the 200 in to work and I had to stand up the whole way there because of how crowded it was. The DDOT is usually even more crowded than the 200. They say that the 200 will still be running downtown during peak hours, but next semester my classes won't be during peak hours, so I guess that I am going to be leaving class at 9PM and getting downtown around 9:30. With the way the DDOT has been running, I probably won't actually get on a bus until around 10pm or later, arrive at Fairlane at 10:45-11:15, and then wait for some indefinite period of time for the SMART bus to show up [[if they will even be coming to Fairlane at that hour). I moved to my current location because it is on the 200 route and makes my commute to school atleast somewhat more bearable. Now, I don't know what I will do.

I am stunned that they are cutting service on the 200, it has to be one of their most widely used buses. They are cutting weekend service altogether.

I would move back to the cass corridor area if it were an option, but at this point it really is not an option. I have no money nor transportation to move my stuff and I can't afford to move at this point. My current location was ideal for both my boyfriend and I because he doesn't go to school in Detroit and we both needed to be able to get to school from our apartment. FML.

[iheartthed]

The AARP generation will never be convinced, bailey. They put up their middle finger at their parents the second they came of age, and now they're busily burning all the bridges THEY crossed so that their children and grandchildren will have to build an entire society from scratch.

As early as the 1980s, my mom was complaining about how badly her generation sucked. I thought she was being harsh -- I think they made some of the music we'll ever hear. Other than that? Um.

Not to be an ageist, but I was reading an article yesterday and couldn't help but think about how much the Gen Xers and Millennials are getting screwed by the Baby Boomers. We might not ever pay off all the excess infrastructure [[i.e. roads) that was built by them, not to mention how we'll ever figure out how to maintain it: http://www.businessinsider.com/subur...y-2011-10?op=1

[Zacha341]

Yes! I agree! I had been 'attempting' to use the DDOT 200 Michigan to get a job site I have in Dearborn and it's impossible to use it if to get there on time! I just finally gave up and have to have someone drop me off. That Michigan line is crucial as it takes many to Fairlane where they can get other buses or further into Dearborn/ Dear Hghts.

It won't be possible. This morning I took the 200 in to work and I had to stand up the whole way there because of how crowded it was. The DDOT is usually even more crowded than the 200. They say that the 200 will still be running downtown during peak hours, but next semester my classes won't be during peak hours, so I guess that I am going to be leaving class at 9PM and getting downtown around 9:30. With the way the DDOT has been running, I probably won't actually get on a bus until around 10pm or later, arrive at Fairlane at 10:45-11:15, and then wait for some indefinite period of time for the SMART bus to show up....

[Diehard]

The AARP generation will never be convinced, bailey. They put up their middle finger at their parents the second they came of age, and now they're busily burning all the bridges THEY crossed so that their children and grandchildren will have to build an entire society from scratch.

As early as the 1980s, my mom was complaining about how badly her generation sucked. I thought she was being harsh -- I think they made some of the music we'll ever hear. Other than that? Um.

I was just wondering about what those "get off my lawn" types are going to do when they can no longer drive.

[Danny]

SMART board of directors are considering about cutting weekend Suburbs to Detroit and Detroit to suburban routes. This would effect more ridership and put pressure on D-DOT bus drivers. Come to any proposed meetings on November and see what SMART bus system can do to resolve this matter.

WORD FROM THE STREET PROPHET

To the 99 percenters with the Spirit of Guy Fawkes, Neda I miss you so.

[urbanhat]

I was just wondering about what those "get off my lawn" types are going to do when they can no longer drive.

Seriously. When the Boomers are too old to drive maybe they'll see the benefit of living in a place with a grocery store down the street and a nice bus to take them to their doctors appointments. Unfortunately, they seem to be in denial about the possibility of getting old.. and the rest of us will end up paying for it.

[antongast]

I was just wondering about what those "get off my lawn" types are going to do when they can no longer drive.

Keep driving anyway, and cause a lot of accidents.