L. Brooks Patterson
Oakland County Executive

Some may be frustrated with delays in the creation of a regional transit plan. They are missing, however, the question at the core of the issue – who pays for it and how will it be funded?

Transportation Riders United and other organizations are hammering away at plans for regional funding, but they get very sketchy when you ask them for specific numbers. Stakeholders have been discussing a regional tax. A lot of us are watching with a little bit of a jaundice as to the hellacious costs associated with building a light rail system, and then maintaining and operating it. It’s going to be in the billions. A lot of us, and I’m one of them, are a little bit nervous and certainly cautious about jumping into these costly programs until we find out how much is at stake and who is going to pay for it. According to current plans, Oakland County residents are likely going to bear the brunt of those costs.

Funding has been, is today, and will be continue to be a major problem. What we’re seeing with the Ann Arbor rail line, the M-1 line, the line from the New Center area to Eight Mile: None of them have been able to secure the necessary funding. The line from the New Center area to Eight Mile is off the table because U.S. Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick redirected her financial support from that commuter line to a high-speed line to Chicago. Every one of the plans that have been talked about has basically been put into mothballs because the funding sources cannot be found.

To make this happen, all of the stakeholders have to come to the table for consensus. I have met with Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Macomb County Chairman of the Board of Directors Paul Gieleghem, and John Hertel, now the general manager of SMART. We had in attendance a couple of business leaders such as Roger Penske and Matt Cullen. We had representatives from the City of Detroit. And those around that table never reached a uniformity of opinion. Different people had different thoughts. A regional transit plan will never happen without each stakeholder knowing his taxpayers and residents will be protected from unreasonable taxation.

In the end, I don’t know that it is even worth the cost to build these lines. It’s going to be a huge burden on an already overtaxed part of the state, and we’ve got to go very slowly and make sure that there’s a business case for it.

As of now, there has been no business case.

Robert A. Ficano
Wayne County Executive

It’s no secret that the Detroit Region is one of the only major urban areas that does not have a mass transit system in its arsenal to attract businesses and young talent.

While we have top-notch universities graduating tremendously bright young professionals, we often can’t convince them to lay roots in Southeast Michigan.

Wayne County recently participated in a charrette with students from the University of Michigan. The students examined an area and were asked, ‘if you could start from scratch, what would you do to improve this region and make it more attractive?’ Each group of participants addressed public transportation and its importance to the lifestyles they seek.  We in the Detroit Region cannot offer an integrated transit system to them at this time – but we will soon be able to.

Several projects are in the works. One, a light rail line from Ann Arbor to Detroit, will break ground in October of this year. It will have stops in Ypsilanti, Detroit Metro Airport, Dearborn, and Detroit. Another line will run along Woodward downtown from the New Center area. This project is being done with the help of private financing from business leaders such as Roger Penske and the Illich family, and institutions such as Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center. This developing mass transit system will bring vitality to our cities in the forms of new investment and a renewed interest among young professionals. And it is exciting.

But this progress has been a long time coming.

As a region, a number of issues have delayed the development of mass transit. One is a lack of urgency. Unfortunately, we see this issue crop up many areas. There must be urgency to execute a project of this magnitude. Secondly, there are concerns about cost and ridership. But in my opinion, we cannot afford to continue to lag behind competing cities. If we really want to be a complete urban center, we are going to have to offer public transportation – and there is no way around that fact.

Economically, we’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Things are starting to pick up; we’re attracting businesses and we’re working to diversify our economy and retain young talent. Now is the time to show that we’re serious about public transportation, and that we want it for the whole region.  Now is the time to show tomorrow’s workforce what Southeast Michigan has to offer.

Paul Gieleghem
Chairman, Macomb County Board of Commissioners

When it comes to regional transit in Southeast Michigan, our focus should be on people and not one particular project or mode of transportation. We need a system designed to serve the entire region. There is much focus on implementing light rail in Metro Detroit, but our collective goal should simply be to move people throughout the region in the quickest and most efficient way.

Macomb County leaders have examined the Regional Transit Coordinating Council (RTCC) Plan.  The early stages of the RTCC Plan are based on the concept of rolling rapid transit and this, ultimately, promotes support for rail.

Building on the RTCC Plan, Macomb County requested a slight modification and some numbers on what it would take to actually develop a continuous loop.  We refer to this loop as the “Golden Triangle.” A rolling rapid transit system extending along Woodward Avenue from the proposed M-1 line out to Pontiac, then from Pontiac by M-59 to Gratiot Avenue, along Gratiot back to Detroit, is a system that can be successfully built, supported by the region and would help in building the case for a future rail system in the Detroit

We’ve called for simultaneous starts at the three corners to get this system up and running.

Macomb County has proven its commitment to transit that is truly regional. We are the only county in the region that doesn’t allow local communities to opt out of the current SMART bus system. In fact, the Gratiot Avenue SMART line has the highest ridership.

Regional transit has a proven $6 return for every dollar spent.  It will be a fantastic asset to Southeast Michigan, but these plans will be implemented only if this issue is examined from a true regional perspective. If people consider transit only from the standpoint of what is good for their specific areas, I don’t think we’ll see progress.

The southwest portions of the City of Detroit and the downriver area would be well-served by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ (SEMCOG) proposal for the commuter rail line linking Detroit, Metro Airport and Ann Arbor.

This is a great start, but how can the rest of the region also be served? I see the answer to this question as the RTCC Plan.   The RTCC Plan will serve as the first step – a sturdy foundation – for mass transit in this region.  The implementation of the Golden Triangle rolling rapid transit concept will be the initial, important step in linking the tri-county area and is the best, quickest and most practical plan with the most benefit to the everyday lives of the largest number of people.

Carmine Palombo
Director of Transportation Programs, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)

One of the defining characteristics of Southeast Michigan is the fact that in order to get around, you really have just one option – the automobile. While cars will likely always be our main source of transportation, this region needs to have other options available – other choices to complement and support the lifestyles of residents and, perhaps more importantly, potential residents.

Many young professionals and emerging business consider the elements of an attractive, sustainable community when deciding where to lay roots. An improved public transit system would help attract a larger tax base and a growing workforce, creating communities with higher levels of density and stronger attraction to talent (including homegrown talent). It would really help get Southeast Michigan’s wheels turning.

Certainly we have made strides in this vital area. There was a time when transit wasn’t even discussed in our region; now there are discussions every day of the Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter project, the M-1 rail project and the Woodward light rail project, and the so-called Golden Triangle in Macomb County. Everybody seeing this progress is getting positive vibes.

The turning point that started changing everything was when Detroit hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006.  Elected officials started to see for the first time the number of people that wanted to use public transit. If there was one negative in the highly successful execution of this event, it was that organizers underestimated the number of buses that they needed. That started getting elected officials to consider improved mass transit as an issue worth taking up, an issue worth funding and an issue worthy of region-wide collaboration.

As plans fall in place, the need for a regional transit authority is first and foremost. We need someone to speak on behalf of transit in Southeast Michigan – not on behalf of Detroit, not on behalf of the suburbs, but someone that’s the voice of public transit for the region as a whole. We also need someone responsible for generating funding so we can build and operate the system that we want.

A great end result of this exciting progress would be being able to have a choice every day whether you want to take your car to work or use light rail line, a bus rapid transit line or a train; to be able to attend events without having to pay for parking or worry about where to park. The residents and visitors of Southeast Michigan will finally have transportation choices – and good options to choose from.

Transportation Riders United (TRU) has been working for ten years with the specific goal of improving and promoting public transit in the greater Detroit region. Transit is critical to revitalizing our city, improving quality of life, and ensuring transportation equity – making sure that everyone has access to what they need.

We work both to improve existing bus services, which are the lifeblood of any transportation system, and to bring in quality rapid transit; the kind you see in every other major city, the lack of which has been holding our region back so long.

TRU was very excited at the recent announcements that the Detroit region was granted substantial federal investment for transit. Funding for new multi-level stations in Dearborn and the Troy/Birmingham area, as well as $25 million to support light rail on Woodward, is a huge boost toward building a quality regional transit system.

That said, a lot of other communities nationally received more federal funding, which really points to the fact that we still have a long way to go. As we look at the states and metro areas that received the most federal investment, two common denominators arise: They have great regional cooperation among their different municipalities, and they are making investments at the local and state level.

Those initiatives fit in very well with what TRU has been focusing on: The need for a regional transit authority to bring all of our efforts together, and the need to regard local and state investments as a way to get more federal funding.

Another major priority of TRU is helping the region understand the economic benefits of transit. For far too long, transit was perceived as just a way to get from point A to point B, but when we looked at other communities around the country we saw enormous economic benefits. The first rapid transit line in Dallas returned $6 – $8  for every dollar invested in the system, in terms of jobs created and new development. We are working to identify businesses that can help speak out about the economic need to invest in transit.

Partnership and collaboration are going to be all the more important moving forward. While we’ve had enormous success in helping the region understand the importance of transit, the next big challenges are the establishment of a regional authority and then developing a funding source. In many ways our biggest battles are in front of us, and we are going to need to ensure everyone is working closely together to help leaders maintain regional thinking, and to help the region understand the need for smart, strategic investments.

Maud Lyon
Founding Director, Cultural Alliance of Southeast Michigan

Arts and culture organizations bring people together. At concerts, festivals, museum exhibitions, and other community cultural activities, people are sharing a common experience. Those kinds of experiences are the glue that brings communities together. They are the catalysts for people to meet, and the way people experience their community as a whole. Public transportation is an important element to the cultural experience.

We in the Detroit region have hundreds of arts and culture organizations serving students, seniors, and families. Unfortunately due to lack of transportation, there are so many who can’t attend concerts, can’t take music lessons, can’t come to exhibits, and can’t participate in fairs and festivals. The organizations most immediately impacted by lack of regional transit are the youth-serving organizations, offering programs such as mentoring or tutoring that change students’ lives. Those kids can’t drive. If they’re going to participate in theses programs, they’re going to need to be able to get to them on a regular basis. Public transit would make all of the difference.

We are beginning to think more regionally. People are really understanding that public transit is vital, to tie us together as a larger community and really understand our inter-relationships. It allows the free market to put businesses where businesses need to be, but also preserve communities where they are by making it easier to link the two together.

You can’t create a regional system in pieces and parts. You really need to have a vision of the whole. A lot of good work has already gone into that effort. What we need is to have a regional transit authority that can oversee such an effort and ensure it is fair and equitable to all communities, efficient, and effective.

Our communities need to be drawn together more closely, to have a feeling of openness and accessibility and possibility. Regional transit will unite us and empower us to experience all the richness of culture our communities have to offer.

Shirley Stancato
President and CEO, New Detroit

New Detroit has always had a focus on closing the gap in race relations, and one of our priority areas is the ability of people of color to get to their jobs. We believe regional transit is a key initiative to advancing that agenda. Many of the region’s available jobs are in the suburbs, and many of the people who work those jobs are in the city. The ability to get to those jobs is crucial, and many individuals who live in the City of Detroit do not have automobiles, relying solely on public transportation. Regional transit is really one of the most important issues that we have, and we have to move quickly to do something about it.

The benefits of regional transit are endless. For one, it is one of the pieces of the puzzle that we need to change the image of this region so more individuals will consider living here. It will be great for commerce, for economic development, and attraction and retention of young talent.

But the adoption of a regional mass transit system also has one incredibly important benefit that many may have overlooked: It will help improve race relations, because in going about our everyday business using mass transit, we will have the opportunity to sit next to people who don’t look like us. Public transportation is a non-threatening way for people to come together and become comfortable with each other. Conversations are sparked between strangers.  And we will see that we are so much more similar than we are dissimilar.

I believe the time is right to efficiently execute change in this region. We have a new mayor in Detroit and a new city council; we have a regional mindset of cooperation that we have not had in the past – from local communities all the way up to the county executives. Individuals in the region are poised for change. You can see it. Let’s latch on to this wonderful spirit of change that we have in this region right now, and ride it to the place where we can affect change in this vital area.

The only way for us to pull together to make regional transit a reality is to view ourselves as a region, as opposed to a city and surrounding suburbs. We have not traditionally done that in Southeast Michigan. It will demonstrate to those who are looking at us – to the Federal government, to foundations, to individuals – that we do understand that what we need to move forward is to work together. Unity is where our strength lies, and we need to demonstrate unity now.

As a preface to my discussion on Southeast Michigan’s need for a comprehensive regional transit system, allow me to provide a concrete example from my personal experience.

Several years ago my wife and I traveled overseas with some good friends from Atlanta. We hired a driving service to take us to the airport and back home upon return. It cost approximately $200 for the round trip. My friends from the Atlanta region took their local transit system to and from the airport, and it cost them probably less than $10 for the round-trip. A huge difference.

So I speak about transit as not only as a necessity for some, but as an option. We in this region have never had a choice with regard to transit, and to truly flourish as a region Detroit must get on board with a comprehensive system. Whether it is comprised of light rail, or bus rapid transit (which I am a big supporter of), or both. Our system needs main arteries into the city as well as routes across town. The vision presented by John Hertel and the Regional Transit Coordinating Council is a perfect plan.

The Detroit Regional Chamber has been involved with the issue of regional transportation for years. When I arrived here in early 1995, one of my first initiatives was advocacy for a suburban bus system, on the condition that it be developed regionally. The Detroit Area Regional Transportation Authority (DARTA) was created through those efforts, and we have been very disappointed at its failure due to political roadblocks over the years. The good news is our region has a new political climate, one in which the development of a regional system is a shared and realistic goal. The Chamber will support John Hertel, we’ll support legislation, we’ll support the efforts of Paul Tait and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments – we’ll support everybody who’s advocating for it.

Of course, we must be realistic and face the challenges head on. First, an opt-out situation just won’t work. A true regional transit system comprises all communities, not one that those that choose to be part of it. Second, there is no transit system in the world that’s paid for by the fare box. We as residents of this region have to understand that it’s going to cost money to build and fund a transit system. It cannot be paid for with fares, and we shouldn’t have that expectation.

But can this issue wait ten more years? I don’t think so. We need this for jobs, for education, for quality of life, and to make this region more accessible. Are we ten years too late? Absolutely. There’s no better time to fulfill this long-held vision than right now.

Mike Brennan
President and CEO, United Way for Southeastern Michigan

True to our mission, the United Way’s perspective on regional transit stems from access to help. Lack of adequate, efficient public transportation consistently hinders the efforts of the United Way and other community organizations working to assist people in need. As such, the lack of a comprehensive regional transit system has been a major barrier to the improvement of the health of individuals and families.

About 700,000 people in Southeast Michigan don’t know where they will find their next meal. We receive calls into our 211 information referral help line from those looking for resources, including access to food. Many have children to feed, and are making decisions on whether to pay rent, utility bills, or to buy groceries. There are wonderful organizations in the area that can help them – but unfortunately many people have no way of getting to these places. If help is not near where people live and they don’t have any access to transportation, we have a gap between the demand for help and the available helping resource. Regional transportation will bridge that gap.

Building that bridge requires regional collaboration. Communities in Southeast Michigan have traditionally favored self-interest over partnership. Metro Detroit is beginning to transform as a result of the economic challenges of recent years. A shift in consciousness is occurring, creating a willingness of individuals to work together and cooperate in ways that they never have before. That has birthed a different level of awareness about the strategic role mass transit plays to economic vitality and growth – attracting capital, development, and young talent. Communities are beginning to see what this investment will return.

Practically, we’ve got to tangibly demonstrate what rapid mass transit would look and feel like. We should have it underway and utilized in order for people to fully understand it. The best thing that we can do is ensure that the early projects that are in development, such the Ann Arbor to Detroit rail or the M-1 line, get launched and operational. It is tangible experience that draws people to imagine a bigger and brighter future. In using mass transit, they can imagine how it might be useful in their town, by their place of work, and they can envision it as a part of their everyday lives.

As transportation improves for everyone, quality of life increases. As quality of life increases, our region will be in a better position to ensure that citizens in need can receive the help they deserve.

Below you will find an article regarding the Golden Triangle proposal
from Paul Gieleghem, Chair of Macomb County Board of Commissioners.

Golden Triangle at core of transit plan
Gieleghem pushes “rail on wheels” bus corridors
By Bill Shea

ABOUT THE “GOLDEN TRIANGLE” PROPOSAL
* Total cost: $927 million ($52 million planning, $875 million
capital)

* Funding source: 80 percent federal, 20 percent state/local for
capital costs; some type of local/regional tax and state appropriation
for operating costs

* Timeline: 69-72 months

* Length: 67.3 miles in three segments:

Woodward Avenue corridor – Grand Boulevard to M-59 (19.5 miles, $15
million in planning costs and $253.5 million in capital costs)

Gratiot Avenue corridor – Woodward to M-59 (23.5 miles, $18 million,
$305.5 million)

M-59 corridor – Gratiot to Woodward (24.3 miles, $19 million, $315.9
million)

* A segment of Woodward from Gratiot to Grand Boulevard would be
served by a separate light line service.

* Corridors would use reserved traffic lanes with signal priority.

* There would be passenger stations with tickets and route info. If
the routes use dedicated lanes in the median, there would be 60
stations. Curbside lanes would need 120 stations.

* Backers said the corridors would create 20,000 new jobs with $900
million in payroll, 7,000 new housing units and $1.3 billion in new
development value.

* Supporters also predict $160 million in new annual retail sales
because of the lines and $60 million in new state and local tax
revenue.

Source: Macomb County

The high-profile light rail project on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue gets
the headlines, but a $927 million system of three dedicated bus
corridors dubbed the *golden triangle* is the true core of the
region’s proposed mass transit plan.

And that needs to be emphasized to the public and lawmakers, some of
its backers say.

*Should we be developing a system in the city, or developing a system
that has the potential to bring people into the city,* said Paul
Gieleghem, chairman of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners and one
of the *Big 4* elected officials with voting oversight of the plan.

He was referring to the $300 million joint effort by private M1 Rail
Inc. and the Detroit Department of Transportation to build a light rail
line from Hart Plaza to New Center, and possibly to Eight Mile Road.

It was Gieleghem who last spring requested the transit organizers
develop the golden triangle as a modification of the regional plan, and
is pushing now to get it in front of lawmakers and the public.

A federal funding request for initial studies, required before the
big-dollar requests can be made, are in the works, too.

Gieleghem also believes that if lawmakers can get approval for a plan
to allow the $125 million in private expenditures on the rail line to
qualify as required local matching funds for federal money, then the
match should be considered for more than just more rail line.

*What should that local match be applied toward?* he asked.

Michigan’s congressional delegation has been working on getting
authorization for such a match.

Gieleghem said informal talks among the organizers and backers have
been under way about the regional plan, and formal meetings are in the
works. Those talks are expected to include discussion of what the match
should be applied to within the transit plan.

All of the transit plans – rail and bus – hinge on the formation of a
regional transit authority to act as management and financial operator.

A legal authority, approved by the Legislature, is a requirement for
federal transportation dollars to finance and operate the regional
system, and mechanics of the authority – such as whether votes would
require a simple or super majority – are the details of bills being
discussed by lawmakers. (See story, Page 10.)

The man who’s acted as ringmaster on the regional mass transit effort
and the related but separate Woodward rail project agrees there needs to
be more emphasis on the bus portion.

*This is the heart of the plan,* said John Hertel, who orchestrated
the wider multifaceted effort that would bring more than 400 miles of
improved bus and rail service to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

He declined to talk about the Woodward rail plans.

The overall plan has $10.5 billion in costs over 25 years of
construction, but elements would be deployed only as ridership demand
dictated.

It was first rolled out to the public in late 2008 and approved by the
elected executives of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties,
but has subsequently has been modified to emphasize what is being called
the *golden triangle* – a 67.3-mile set of three linked corridors
made up of Woodward and Gratiot avenues and M-59.

The triangle would be served by streetcar-like articulated buses
(called rolling rapid transit or bus rapid transit) that have their own
dedicated lanes, traffic signal priority and stations so that they
operate almost like a light rail system.

Such bus service was always part of Hertel’s proposal, but the three
corridors hadn’t been broken out into a priority until last year.

The advantage of such bus service is that it is far cheaper than rail,
backers say.

*It’s in a sense rail on wheels, using the existing routes,*
Gieleghem said. *We’re convinced, in Macomb County, this is all the
benefits of a rail system at a third of the cost.*

All elements of the mass transit plan are expected to be 80 percent
federally funded, with the rest matched by state and local money.

The mayor of Detroit and executives from the three counties – jointly
the Regional Transit Coordinating Council but dubbed the Big 4 – hired
Hertel in 2006 to run their regional mass transit effort, which they
view as an economic development engine for metro Detroit.

Advocates say that every $1 of transit investment brings $4 to $6 in
new economic development near the routes, along with alleviating
congestion and environmental concerns – hence the *golden* name.

The three legs of the bus triangle would be built and deployed
simultaneously – something that satisfies Macomb County’s concern that
it’s role wasn’t prominent enough in the regional plan, whose marquee
element, at least publicly, has been the Woodward Avenue rail project.

*Everybody wants to ensure their communities can be served,*
Gieleghem said, which is why he asked that the golden triangle be
developed as a modification of the original plan.

*We know that is just a plan. As we move forward, there are going to
be modifications. This is the modification that Macomb County
supports,* he said.

The final look of the system will be contingent upon ongoing
negotiations among political leaders and how various environmental and
engineering assessments shape up. In the meantime, Macomb County has at
least tacit support from Wayne County for the triangle concept.

*Macomb believes those three lines should be a top priority. We
support the regional transit plan – the three lines that Macomb is
pushing are a critical component of the regional plan,* Dennis
Niemiec, acting press secretary for Wayne County Executive Robert
Ficano, wrote in an e-mail.

Norm White, Detroit’s CFO who also is overseeing mass transit, issued a
generic statement through Mayor Dave Bing’s office: *The city of
Detroit is committed to regional mass transit. The issue is how to fund
a comprehensive regional transit system.*

A message seeking comment was left for Oakland County Executive L.
Brooks Patterson.

The bus rapid transit system would be owned and operated by the
regional authority, separate from the DDOT and the Suburban Mobility
Authority for Regional Transportation bus systems.

John Swatosh, Hertel’s deputy at the regional transit council, said it
would be up to the authority board to handle how DDOT and SMART are
worked into the regional system, such as eventual absorption or
maintaining them as standalone entities that are some sort of
subsidiaries.

In the meantime, organizers are working with Michigan’s congressional
delegation to request $10.5 million in funding for the alternative
analysis corridor studies that are prerequisites for seeking capital
funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program,
which is aimed at partially funding qualified local fixed-transit
projects.

The study portion takes about a year, Swatosh said.

He expects to learn if the funding is approved by August.

Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626, bshea@crain.com