Detroit Public Transportation: 2014 and beyond.

[That Great Guy]

A couple things. First of all, where is it coming from that a vote is planned for November 2014? It may be possible, just barely, but "likely" is a very strong word. Second, what was given above was not the RTA's plans; the RTA did not exist when Mr. Murphy wrote that article. He was explaining what the state legislation, now laws, will allow the RTA to do. The RTA has not yet made any specific plans at all. All of their meeting minutes - the board itself and its working committees - are available on SEMCOG's website.

Exactly how the RTA will implement its statutory role to coordinate routes between DDOT and SMART remains to be seen. The current situation is unfortunate. Someone remarked about SMART buses only serving Detroit at peak times; that was the result of a budget crisis brought on by the plummeting real estate market of the past few years.

http://crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/2000s/2002/memo1064.pdf

This publication shows how SMART has replaced the property tax as the primary source of funding. Federal and State funding has not kept up with the costs So, we choose bus service reductions? or, small incremental property tax increases?

This area needs safe, clean, reliable and proven cost effective regional public bus services to compete in the Worldwide marketplace which is based on documented facts.

Tax shifting without permanent alternative funding and facilities for those with handicaps, the elderly and the transit dependent are not just immoral but illegal based on Federal laws. This includes the I-94 and I-75 freeway expansions.

SMART is not in compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or ADA laws, if they continue or support telling the public that a NO vote means cuts in essential funding for the transit dependent.