Novi's Mayor wants to opt in Smart Busses.

[Danny]

Novi Mayor Bob Gatt wants to opt in SMART busses in his City. He will be taking this proposal to the City Council. I hope they approve it soon.

We could see the 12 Mile Rd. RTE. 740 and Grand River RTE. 330 and Park and Ride RTE. 805 coming to and from Twelve Oaks Mall.


http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-the-smart-bus

[Lowell]

Hopefully this will be a growing trend. This snip says it all.

Because Novi is not part of SMART, buses drop off passengers at 12 Mile and Haggerty Road at the Farmington Hills border, forcing workers to walk the last mile or two to the mall and other nearby shopping centers.

"I didn't like to see people walking down 12 Mile from Haggerty to get to work," Gatt said.

Joining SMART, Gatt said, is "the right thing to do."

"And we're going to do it," he said.

[Danny]

Novi opt out the SMART BUSSES since 1990. Now its time for Novi to get back in the regional transit wagon.

[Honky Tonk]

Hopefully this will be a growing trend. This snip says it all.

Because Novi is not part of SMART, buses drop off passengers at 12 Mile and Haggerty Road at the Farmington Hills border, forcing workers to walk the last mile or two to the mall and other nearby shopping centers.

"I didn't like to see people walking down 12 Mile from Haggerty to get to work," Gatt said.

Joining SMART, Gatt said, is "the right thing to do."

"And we're going to do it," he said.

All this brings back memories of recent tax and usage hikes under the guise of "We need to fix our roads!" After the hikes, the roads are still shit, and now they're clamoring for more money. Again, where did the money go? Now everyone "thinks" buses are going to pick them up @ their door, when they're ready, drop them off @ their destination of choice, then pick them up and return them home. The tax increase will probably evaporate again, and people will still be walking down 12 mile to Haggerty. This is how you get increases, tell everyone what they want to hear.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Wonder what LBP has to say about this?

[JBMcB]

"I didn't like to see people walking down 12 Mile from Haggerty to get to work," Gatt said.

I can understand that sentiment, and would agree with it, but I've worked and driven past that intersection on and off for 15 years, and I've *very* rarely seen anyone walking that stretch of 12 mile. I'm pretty sure there isn't anywhere to walk along 12 by the 5 connector.

[Richard]

In 2015 the department of transportation conducted a smart city challenge,78 cities responded and one of the top concerns was

Providing first-mile and last- mile service for transit users to connect underserved communities to jobs

It is an interesting read.

https://www.transportation.gov/smartcity/

[Danny]

Novi is booming with business with retails, entertainment and industry. Having the SMART bus transportation in their hub will improve regional hospitality.

[Danny]

Wonder what LBP has to say about this?

NOTHING!! and let him retire and rot!

[townonenorth]

Wonder what LBP has to say about this?

Never mind about Brooks... what would Trainman say?

[Johnnny5]

Wonder what LBP has to say about this?

Patterson has repeatedly said Oakland County communities should be able to make their own decisions whether or not they want to participate in Smart. So I assume he would be supportive of Novi's choice if they choose to do so.

He's also publicly stated his support for this summers Smart renewal mileage and at the same time been vocal about his concern that the RTA proposal may threaten the Smart renewal and the impact that may have on existing users.

[3WC]

Yeah, where's Trainman when we need him?

[Jason]

Patterson has repeatedly said Oakland County communities should be able to make their own decisions whether or not they want to participate in Smart. So I assume he would be supportive of Novi's choice if they choose to do so.

He's also publicly stated his support for this summers Smart renewal mileage and at the same time been vocal about his concern that the RTA proposal may threaten the Smart renewal and the impact that may have on existing users.

Patterson has consistently been against transit for forever. In every case he "supports" the transit option which results in less transit funding and more difficulty in expanding transit services.

If he was genuinely pro-transit but thought that SMART was the better entity to do it, he'd be arguing for an alternative SMART operated transit expansion. Instead he's arguing against the concept of transit investment itself.

There's truth to the idea of the RTA being a "glorified SMART" though. SEMTA was the original RTA, and started out just as toothless, but over time was able to get the ability to purchase private transportation companies, levy taxes, and operate its own services. It was ultimately successful in purchasing and consolidating the suburban bus [[and even a few rail) companies. It even started the People Mover project. When it came time to buy DSR [[owned by Detroit), negotiations failed. SEMTA reorganized into SMART and DSR was reorganized into DDOT.

In 1989 the RTCC was formed, again an RTA designed to act as an umbrella organization for federal funds, coordinated planning, and eventual consolidation of the existing transit agencies. In the early 2000s DARTA was attempted, passed both state houses but was vetoed by Engler. Multiple attempts afterwards failed to get through the legislature.

In the past I always wondered why if DDOT and SMART wanted an RTA so bad why they didn't just do it themselves. Well it turns out in 2003, SMART, DDOT, and RTCC simply decided to do just that, and make DARTA themselves. The local chapter of ASCME sued and somehow the courts decided that the transit agencies did not have the authority to make DARTA. [[thanks again unions)

That leads me to believe that despite originally being created as an RTA, SMART no longer has that capacity.