BACK TO --- Transit Advocacy
Groups
The basics of funding
Transit
supportive agreements should be in
writing. Larger urban freeways are not
among the answers to save mass transit,
our cities and to protect our
environment.
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--- If increased funds from the Michigan
Department of Transportation (MDOT) are not
in writing at the voting booth, then they do not
exist. Conditions to make the freeway expansion
projects accessible to all and save SMART include
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MDOT funds to support the handicapped and
disabled permanently.
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MDOT funds are increased to pay for federal
transit grants.
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MDOT 24 hour / 7 day a week frequent bus
service is provided to downtown Detroit and
Metro Airport along existing bus routes for
regional mass transit.
(studies show this is needed)
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Present funding and policies to remain
intact.
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The full 10% OR more of all fuel taxes is to
fund existing transit providers (SMART and
DDOT)
in writing.
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The expansion and maintenance of freeways in
Detroit and nearby is to be complemented by
frequent mass transit paid in full (including
operating costs) by MDOT to remove cars.
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Implement the basics of the original "A
Framework for Action" plan or similar with a
guaranteed portion of the gas tax in
conjunction with other logical solutions such
as special assessment taxes and incentives to
better use limited funds. See (Option 1)
under alternatives to tax increases...
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Allow competition by giving each community
their choices of services, tax rates and
providers with SMART remaining part of the
county transit authority.
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Allow the base minimum of .6 mil in
communities in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb to
support SMART as the premier regional public
transit provider by public vote. In addition,
provide written agreements for CTF funds to
be utilized as a multiple source for
"operating" expenses for frequent bus
services along all major roads that were
replaced by the freeways and related routes.
An optimum balance of funds from fuel taxes,
fares, tolls, commerce and many revenue sources
for transit is the proven solution. The best
source is wages from those who pay at the farebox
and monthly passes.
In 2003, transit rider ship
increased in the western
Detroit suburbs by SMART transit officials working
with the public in Livonia to protect both state
and local property
taxes for community transit. In November 2006,
transit advocacy
groups rejected this improvement and instead favored of a regional
transit authority "House Bill 5467 (DARTA)" to replace
current operating budgets.
This was gross negligence according to statistics provided
at city hall and elsewhere which caused many
residents to reject the contract to keep bus service.
In late
2005, transit advocacy groups in Livonia,
Michigan failed to keep
the large state funded handicapped
buses from shutting down
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Beware of transit tax increases to cure a
crisis that doesn't exist
We can pay for public transit with present
funding. The question is "do we want to?" or do
we want to support other tax mechanisms and new
policies? Watch out for snake oil claims to cure
traffic congestion and to help the poor. They go
by the names of state transit grants, regional
cooperation and many other such comforting names.
What they really do is give a false sense of
security at the cost of economic freedom.
back to
top
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The
increasing costs for transportation
"County and Local tax uses" return
New Freeways, Bridges, Roads,
Luxury Trains and More
Government
is Leading Michigan to Nowhere...
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Nowhere...
The Protection and Increase of
Fuel Taxes for more Bus Ridership is a SMART Idea.
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A SMART idea: Take a hard
look at transportation system return
The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional
Transportation has a $45 million ticket-to-ride for
the next four years. The voters deserve a bus
system that will improve its performance and one
that will induce more of us to actually use the
buses.
The voters are willing to pay for the buses for
other people to ride, but most of us who voted
"yes" for the SMART renewal and increase will never
actually ride a bus.
In an election where communities voted down police
protection, the voters favored a public
transportation system for all the people who do not
own cars.
But lack of ridership is one of the biggest
roadblocks to an economical SMART. Large, largely
empty buses are not an efficient way of spending
our public transportation dollars.
The total SMART budget for next year will be more
than $100 million and the total ridership is
projected at less than 10 million. That is roughly
$10 a ride - fairly expensive for public
transportation. And it explains why just 9 percent
of SMART's budget comes from fares paid by riders.
By comparison, Chicago Transit Authority's bus
system derives 50 percent of its operating budget
from the fare box. And the average cost per bus
rider in Chicago (fare plus subsidy) is less than
$1.35 a ride.
Filling up the SMART buses would cut the cost of a
ride dramatically, but the issue of how many people
actually use SMART buses was hardly touched on
prior to the election. Voters were not asked why
they don't ride and not much was said on how SMART
was doing on its plan to downsize buses.
Oakland Press readers who have been to Chicago know
the difference between their buses and ours is that
theirs are full. Not only are they full but they
are used by everyone - not just the poor, the
disabled and the elderly.
Before the next millage election in four years, we
offer some goals for SMART officials.
Increase ridership or decrease the sizes of the
buses. Get those big SMART buses filled to 70
percent capacity or trade them in for minivans
purchased from local automobile dealers.
Increase the portion of the operating budget paid
by fares to at least 30 percent.
Lower the total cost of an average SMART bus ride
to under $5.
Find out why so many people ride the bus in other
cities and why so few do it here. We have heard a
number of theories - scattered employment centers,
dispersed populations - to explain why other
cities' systems work better than ours. If the
Detroit metropolitan area is so different, maybe we
need a different kind of public transportation.
If our public transportation system cannot meet
those challenges when this millage comes up again
for renewal in 2006, we need to ask ourselves: How
smart is it to spend this much money
to transport so few people?
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Mass Transit
Die-hard drivers must be shown the
advantages
August 26, 2002
With more people driving in metro Detroit, transit
advocates must work harder to build a consensus on
a regional transportation system that will benefit
all.
Census 2000 figures show southeast Michigan has
become even more wedded to the automobile. Fewer
people take public transportation to work -- less
than 2 percent -- than in 1990. Solo drivers rose
from 83 percent to 84 percent, while carpoolers
dropped from 10 percent to 9 percent. Not
surprisingly, commute times continue to rise.
Even in Detroit, the share of workers taking public
transportation dropped, from 10.7 to 8.7 percent,
as the portion of households without cars fell from
33 percent to 22 percent. Boom times in the 1990s
pulled some Detroiters out of poverty, and
welfare-to-work initiatives placed many low-income
workers at jobs that were difficult or impossible
to reach by local buses.
Those trends show regional mass transit must
attract more than those who depend on it. Transit
is still widely regarded here only as a kind of
social service for seniors, people with
disabilities and the poor, rather than a catalyst
for economic growth and better quality of life for
everyone.
Better transit means fewer cars on the daily
commute, which translates into less highway
congestion, lower road costs and cleaner air.
That message and more are what the Southeast
Michigan Council of Governments and the
Metropolitan Affairs Coalition will have to spread
as they push for a rapid transit bus system.
Service will have to be frequent and reliable
enough to lure people out of their cars to get
metro Detroit moving forward.
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A referendum passed 55-45 percent to withdraw from SMART and use a 0.5-mill tax to expand community bus operations for seniors.
Livonia votes out of SMART, jeopardizing bus system
LIVONIA -- One of Metro Detroit's biggest suburbs wants to dump the region's beleaguered bus system, leaving a gaping hole in an already patchwork service.
Livonia residents voted Tuesday to give the City Council approval to withdraw the city's $2.4 million tax subsidy of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), prompting worry among bus advocates that other suburbs may follow suit. The council is expected to make the move official by year's end.
With 100,000 residents, Livonia would be the largest city to end the service, which serves Detroit and 50 of 103 suburbs in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Farmington Hills officials are debating whether to bow out of the system in 2006.
"There are fears other communities might get the idea to save some pennies by doing what Livonia did," said a spokesman for Transportation Riders United, a mass transit advocacy group.
"People still need to get to work, get to school, get to doctors, yet we continue to make it more difficult."
In an unexpectedly large Livonia turnout, a referendum passed 55-45 percent to withdraw from SMART and use a 0.5-mill tax to expand community bus operations for seniors.
Officials downplayed the result, but it could have a profound impact on not only the local economy, but also the future of mass transit in southeast Michigan.
The result means that bus service would end in Livonia next fall, leaving the most prosperous corner of Wayne County without public transportation links. Canton Township, Plymouth and Northville opted out of the system in the 1990s.
Those communities and Livonia are home to 136,000 jobs, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. SMART takes some 1,000 riders each day to jobs in Livonia, according to its general manager.
"Bus service has always been contentious in Livonia," an official said, noting that city officials have threatened to pull out of the system three times before. "Taking care of people from the outside has never been a top priority."
The result also could influence ongoing debate about expanding mass transit throughout Metro Detroit, a transit advocate said. Opponents in Lansing could seize on the vote as proof that suburbanites don't want expanded transit.
Ironically, Livonia is withdrawing from the bus system even as its use is increasing. Daily ridership has increased some 15 percent since last year to about 41,000 riders a day.
Census figures show that less than 1 percent of Livonia residents use public transportation, however, and many residents felt taxes could be better spent. The subsidy cost owners of $200,000 homes about $60 a year in taxes.
"It's not a wise use of taxpayer dollars," said a civil engineer. "Buses often run far below capacity. There must be a better mechanism to spend our tax dollars."
On its surface, the vote pitted arguments about fiscal austerity against maintaining a safety net for those who need the bus. But like other issues involving Livonia -- and mass transit -- race loomed large.
Although its demographics are similar to many other suburbs, Livonia continues to battle its stigma as the "whitest city in America." It earned the nickname because of a Census report: At 95 percent white, it's the most homogenous U.S. city with a population over 100,000.
Livonia's population has since dipped, but the notoriety remains -- as evidenced by ongoing debate about a 24-hour Wal-Mart at the defunct Wonderland Mall. The plan has drawn hundreds of opponents, a few of whom made headlines complaining it would attract too many African-Americans from Detroit.
"The bus issue isn't racial. It's about getting your money's worth," said a saleswoman. "People want to use racial issues to put our city down."
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Visions become false dreams...
The continuation of the efforts from many
to improve and keep in existence present tax mechanisms and funds
to properly support, maintain and manage
two public transportation providers were replaced
with a secession from previous funds and to merge as
a prerequisite to enable new tax mechanisms and increases.
The creation of a new
transportation authority known
as DARTA with the county
tax as the primary target for
an operating budget was
not of adequate ability to
overcome the obstacles of the lack of user
fees, consensus, good planning and
organization. An unfortunate failure at
the wrong time and place.
The direct result of this was a majority vote
on November 8, 2005 in the city of Livonia to
eliminate the Suburban Mobiliity Authority
for Regional Transportation ~ SMART.
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