Troy Transit Center Update

[Bham1982]

1- One of the main reasons to build it was that federal funding was available.

And this is the dumbest part of the whole situation. There is no logic whatsoever to this project, even if you're a hard-core transit advocate. It's just spending money because it's available.

In a perfect world, the money could have been diverted to an actual transit-oriented location [[like the Detroit or Ann Arbor Am-shack stations) but instead we get a Taj Mahal of a station behind a strip mall for 40 daily customers. I bet you the annual maintenance/security alone runs six figures.

The old station, on the Birmingham side, was actually much more walkable and transit-friendly, but that's shutting down, so the interplay of the Rail District with the station will be lost.

[DetroitPlanner]

The old station, on the Birmingham side, was actually much more walkable and transit-friendly, but that's shutting down, so the interplay of the Rail District with the station will be lost.

It also did not conform to ADA and was open to the elements. To look at the current ridership and assume that is all that will use it is probably a mistake. Besides being unusable to many with disabilities, the current platform does not instill a sense of pride and is wholly inadequate should the RTA resume rail service along this corridor in the future. Yes a resumption of commuter rail may be optimistic, but having the infrastructure in place makes it more of a reality.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

It also did not conform to ADA and was open to the elements. To look at the current ridership and assume that is all that will use it is probably a mistake. Besides being unusable to many with disabilities, the current platform does not instill a sense of pride and is wholly inadequate should the RTA resume rail service along this corridor in the future. Yes a resumption of commuter rail may be optimistic, but having the infrastructure in place makes it more of a reality.

Compliance with ADA was not the primary goal of the project and could have been achieved without building the new center in Troy. And while you will be able to use your wheelchair in the new station if it opens, you will not be able to use your wheelchair to get to the new station. It is even less wheelchair accessible than it is pedestrian accessible. And the new station, if it ever comes online, does not create any commuter rail infrastructure. First, there are no plans by anyone to bring back commuter rail on that corridor. It is not even on the horizon, short of you raising the money yourself and paying for it. Second, even if [[I'm pretending here) it were going to happen, the necessary infrastructure is the tracks. They were already there. The creature comforts of the new station are creature comforts, not transportation. Third, using your logic, I am going to build a climate controlled garage at my house to contain my Lamborghini collection, on the off chance that I ever get a collection of Lamborghinis. Having that infrastructure in place makes it more of a reality.

Instilling a sense of pride is not an adequate reason to spend any taxpayer dollars, let alone $8M. If the number of users of the station doubled [[and there is no reason to believe it will increase at all, let alone double), it will still not serve very many people. The "new" airport [[a dozen years ago now) might instill pride in Metro Detroit, especially in light of what it replaced, but it is a larger, better functioning facility that serves tens of millions of people. There might be pride, but there is also broad utility. Not so Troy Transit Center.

$8M would have been better spent on increased bus service on Maple or along Woodward, or offering express bus service from Troy to downtown Detroit. Better buses and shelters. Or improving wheelchair accessibility on SE Michigan's bus fleets.

Opportunity cost is real. Every penny in the Troy Transit Center is a penny not spent somewhere else. 8 hundred million pennies. It will also help the public sour on paying for transit projects. When the Station to Nowhere stars in negative TV ads campaigning against ballot measures to fund transit, you can blame the geniuses in Troy if they go down to defeat.

And lastly, if the station never opens, which is a possibility if an unlikely one, Troy taxpayers will have to foot the entire cost of the station, without federal reimbursement. $8M to not get a station! The best case scenario for the station is just a question of the least-bad outcome. There is no possibility that this will turn into a wonderful and thoughtful use of taxpayer money to create a whole set of great transit options.

[Bham1982]

It also did not conform to ADA and was open to the elements.

The Pontiac and Royal Oak stations [[both a few minutes away and both massively underutilized) are both ADA compliant and include shelter from the elements. And the Pontiac station is brand new.

There is no justification for this station, IMO. It would probably be better for Troy if they just bulldozed it, and saved on the eminent domain costs and annual upkeep.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

There is no justification for this station, IMO. It would probably be better for Troy if they just bulldozed it, and saved on the eminent domain costs and annual upkeep.

Although I agree with this sentiment on face value, it would be worse for Troy taxpayers to bulldoze it. If it ends up opening, the feds reimburse most of the construction cost. If it doesn't end up opening as a transit station, the city has to foot the whole bill. While more money would be lost in total going forward with the project, more money would be lost to Troy to not go forward. Since the public officials in Troy's first obligation is to the people of Troy, they need to embrace the terrible project at this point to not explode the tax bills of city residents.

Accepting federal money for projects always has strings attached, and those strings can enable and encourage bad policy decisions at the local level.

[Bham1982]

Although I agree with this sentiment on face value, it would be worse for Troy taxpayers to bulldoze it. If it ends up opening, the feds reimburse most of the construction cost. If it doesn't end up opening as a transit station, the city has to foot the whole bill.

Aha, then I agree, keep it open, and do the absolute minimum to remain federally compliant. Maybe keep the interior closed outside of the winter for "maintenance" or whatever to save on costs.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Aha, then I agree, keep it open, and do the absolute minimum to remain federally compliant. Maybe keep the interior closed outside of the winter for "maintenance" or whatever to save on costs.

I would be curious if the interior space could be leased to a private company to use as they please [[a Starbucks, maybe?), who would commit to maintaining it as their rent, to mitigate the damage to Troy taxpayers.

[That Great Guy]

Safe, cost effective bus systems could help make this transit center work. Next August, we have a choice. YES, SMART needs or should have more property tax money. NO, leave alone.

Please comment on the following.

Extract from TRU

TRU recommends a 1.8 mil property tax on the August 2014 ballot, enabling SMART to overhaul its aging bus fleet plus expand service hours and routes. TRU would also support a 1.0 mil tax rate, which would not allow for the transit expansion the region needs, it should enable some restoration of service and improvement of the ancient bus fleet.

SMART still needs to publicly detail the improvements they would make with increased funding, however the development of that plan should NOT delay the necessary actions to get an increase on the ballot. Each county must vote before the end of April to place the SMART millage on the August ballot.