Personally, I'm not sure I get this, particularly on Woodward when there are already plans for a light rail up to the city limits. These suburban leaders are trying to short-circuit/pre-empt the planning already taking place, at least on Woodward:
Quote:
Three-county rapid bus route endorsed
Charles E. Ramirez / The Detroit News
April 9, 2010
Mount Clemens -- The "Golden Triangle" -- a proposed rapid bus route that would link Macomb and Oakland counties with downtown Detroit -- got a boost Thursday from local business groups that say it will be cheaper and faster to establish than light rail.
The Macomb County and the Sterling Heights Regional Chambers of Commerce say they support a plan by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) to use buses on dedicated lanes along a 67-mile route.
The bus route need not compete with light rail projects in Metro Detroit, backers say. Rather, it could be a precursor for light-rail systems because it would establish the ridership required to draw federal funding for light rail, officials say.
"It's a practical, functional, fiscally responsible approach to mass transit that serves the whole region," said Macomb County Board of Commissioners chairman Paul Gieleghem, D-Clinton Township. "It will roll like (light) rail and feel like (light) rail."
Grace Shore, the Macomb County Chamber's CEO, called the Golden Triangle "a huge boon to the area."
"These kinds of systems are in place in other major metropolitan areas and we can't be left behind."
Wayne Oehmke, president of the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce, agreed.
"If Macomb County wants to be a first-class community, we need to have first-class public transportation."
...
|
I don't buy that this wouldn't compete with the plans for light rail. To be sure, Gratiot has always been initially planned with BRT in mind, but Woodward was the one, true light rail route that had been identified. This is an excellent example of why the regional transit authority needs to get up and running right away, so we won't have every little city and township jocking to implement their single vision of what the transit system should be. If it was up to these suburban leaders, the whole system would be BRT, if even that.