Southeast Michigan lawmakers are pushing for greater state investment in the regional transportation systems testing new ways to better connect Detroit to nearby communities. 

Transportation Riders United convened policy makers, transportation leaders and advocates for the nonprofit’s annual State of Transit meeting Tuesday night in Detroit. Lawmakers in a newly-formed, first-ever “transit caucus” called on residents to back them up as they prepare to make the case in Lansing for budget increases and policy decisions. 

“There’s going to be one loud voice in Lansing,” said state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak. “We’re accountable to you. It needs to be very clear that this is an issue voters care about and If you do not take action on it, you’ll be voted out of office.” 

McMorrow said Michigan’s lone regional transit authority, which serves communities in the Detroit metro area, historically lacked the funding and political influence to push much-needed changes. In the meantime, the state has failed to provide public transportation options that are in high-demand among young people. 

A governor-appointed task force studying population growth strategies recommended improving the power of regional transit authorities to create high-speed networks. McMorrow said transit investments should be viewed as an economic development strategy. 

“The idea that we still have to make the argument for why transit is important is frustrating to me,” said state Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor. “I tell people all the time, ‘young people want transit, young people want transit.’ Frankly, all people want to transit. It seems like everyone tends to agree on this concept. To actually prioritize it is a different question.” 

State Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, said he joined the 36-member legislative transit caucus specifically to keep young people from moving out of Michigan. McKinney said he grew up as a frequent bus user who was well-acquainted with how time consuming and frustrating public transportation can be – it took him roughly five hours each day to get to and from his northeast Detroit neighborhood to Renaissance High School. 

Morgan said he’s working on a bill to double local bus operating funding, increasing by roughly $150 million. He said money already exists in the state budget for transit, collected through an auto-related sales tax, but those dollars have gone into the General Fund instead.

“We want to capture and reclaim those funds for transit,” Morgan said. “That should be going to  buses, rail and everything else. This isn’t a tax increase, it’s not taking money from other programs. These are dollars that are already there.” 

Transit Riders United celebrated a $110 million boost in public transportation funding in the current budget. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to unveil her proposal for the 2025 budget in coming weeks, setting up several months of negotiations in the Legislature before a final budget is passed. 

The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan targets funding shortfalls as an issue in its latest master plan. 

Southeast Michigan, which includes urbanized areas around Detroit and Ann Arbor, spends less per capita on public transit operations compared to peer regions, the report states. The RTA argues this lack of investment results in reduced service and lower ridership. 

The largest urbanized areas spend $252 per capita on transit operations. Southeast Michigan spends $70 per capita. The Southeast Michigan region is the 11th most-populated region in the country, but its transit spending ranks 23rd.

Transit agencies across the country rely on sales taxes for revenue. Local option sales taxes are not legal in Michigan, requiring communities to pass property tax millages to raise transit revenue. Those initiatives have had a mixed record of success in Michigan, though the greater Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area and Oakland County approved millages to raise operating funding for transit in 2022. 

McKinney said he’s focused on improving transit along the VanDyke corridor to connect Detroit, Warren and Sterling Heights – three of Michigan’s largest cities. McKinney said that work requires partnerships with officials at multiple levels of government. 

Regional alignment on transportation is happening, McKinney said, thanks to a shared acknowledgement of Michigan’s shortcomings and new legislative maps that created more crossover between Detroit and nearby communities. 

“One of the good things about redistricting that has happened, it created an environment where we’re all in rooms together,” McKinney said. “That has probably never happened in the history of these districts. They’re crossing commercial corridors and bringing people together. It’s not Detroit versus everybody or suburbs versus Detroit.”

It’s a far cry from some 50 years ago, when Southeast Michigan fumbled a major opportunity to fund a regional transportation system. 

“The federal government gave our region millions to build transit, what happened is our region couldn’t come together,” McKinney said. “Oakland and Macomb counties sent their money back to the federal government. Detroit kept its share and built the People Mover. When that money was sent back to Washington, D.C. the government reappropriated those dollars to D.C. and they built their metro system. That was supposed to be us.”

State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said there’s still more work to be done, despite the momentum. Irwin called on attendees at the Tuesday event to “get more intense” in holding elected officials accountable. 

“I want you to raise your voice,” Irwin said. “I want you to keep asking about transit more, because right now, we have not overcome the inertia that we have in this region. Our voices are not loud enough. We’re not asking enough pesky questions. We’re not putting top officials in a position where they’re wondering: ‘How am I going to deliver for my residents on this issue?’” 

Irwin told attendees to “chase” public officials on social media, through emails and at in-person events.

“There are a lot of things out there in the political environment where the public overwhelmingly believes in something, but it never happens,” Irwin said. “The reason is, because there’s a mismatch of intensity. We need to make sure that our elected officials at the local and state level hear about this issue wherever they go.”

Leaders of transportation agencies in Southeast Michigan also teased some big changes coming in 2024. The Detroit Department of Transportation is addressing shortages of mechanics and drivers that should help put more buses on the road. 

Interim Director G. Michael Staley said the city is finalizing the final draft of its DDOT Reimagined plan this year. DDOT is also expanding paratransit service this year with funding from the RTA, allowing residents with a disability to book rides on the same day instead of a day prior. 

The Detroit Transit Police will hand off security of DDOT buses to the Police Department later this year. Transit Police would remain responsible for policing stations of the Detroit People Mover. 

The RTA is working to start a new nonstop bus line connecting downtown Detroit to the Detroit Metro Airport by early March. The RTA is also planning to create a grant program focused on improving safety and shelters at bus stops and a shared mobility wallet that allows users to book rides for multiple transit providers through one phone application. 

Transit Riders United Executive Director Megan Owens said transportation improvements should be prioritized starting with availability and reliability, then convenience and attractiveness, followed by creating service that is preferable to driving. 

Owens said reliability has been among the largest struggles facing the region, in part due to driver shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. She said progress is being made to increase wages and improve safety for drivers.

“Wage increases should be enough to attract more drivers and make it a more competitive job, enabling truly reliable bus service so riders don’t have to wait around in the cold not knowing if their bus will show up,” Owens said. 

Owens said organizers with Transit Riders United should be proud of their advocacy work. Their efforts to inform policy makers, residents and media organizations is bearing fruit, she said. 

“We won the biggest investment in our state’s history last year,” Owens said. “We’ve got more planned for this coming year.” 

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed a quote from state Sen. Jeff Irwin to Michigan Infrastructure Chief Zach Kolodin.