[M II A II R II K]

Metro Detroit's bus system fight may risk millions


Jun. 8, 2011

BY MATT HELMS AND CHRISTINA HALL

Read More: http://www.freep.com/article/2011060...risk-millions-

Metro Detroit has its most realistic chance in a generation of creating a rail and bus transit system that could transform how the region commutes and launch economic redevelopment from downtown to the suburbs. But if Detroit and tri-county leaders can't agree on combining city and suburban bus systems -- an ambition that has eluded the region for decades -- they risk forfeiting millions in federal money. The Obama administration has put up $25 million -- and more if the region shows it can work together -- toward Woodward Avenue light rail, a plan backed with millions more pledged by private backers. At the same time, Detroit's budget crisis and declining suburban property tax revenues are putting enormous pressure on DDOT and SMART, the region's separate bus agencies.

"Both systems are down to cutting into bone at this point," said Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, a Detroit-based transit advocacy group. "I think the public understands the need to invest in transit, but will the politicians listen?" On that point, stumbling blocks have already arisen, but representatives of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing point out that regional authorities have been established to oversee city-owned assets such as the water system and Cobo Center.

To someone who uses public transportation, like Jackie Allen, metro Detroit's patchwork bus network is failing and the region's inability to settle differences -- be they political or social -- are hurting those who depend on the system most. "The bus system in Detroit is terrible right now," Allen, 46, of Detroit said as she waited downtown for a bus that was 20 minutes That goal has eluded southeast Michigan for decades, however, with increasingly dire implications: The Detroit Department of Transportation is in crisis mode, slashing routes and ending 24-hour service on June 27 as the system bleeds $54 million a year from the city's budget. The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) has avoided service cuts, but a $7-million hit to its 2011-12 budget foreshadows more trouble.

Cities across the nation -- including Denver, Dallas, Phoenix and Portland, Ore. -- are building light-rail networks and modernizing buses to lure people back to urban centers and spur redevelopment. Meanwhile, public transit in metro Detroit withers.late. Allen is unemployed and uses public transportation for job hunting. "Maybe if (the bus system) became regional, it would be better for people," she said.

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