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Originally Posted by animatedmartian
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The release of that article couldn't have come on a worse date. lol I only say this because while everything they talked about, transit-wise, is most likely still going to happen, in the past week, we've had these setbacks:
1. John Hertel pulled out of being the CEO of the RTA because of lack of funds for a proper staff. This sent the board scrambling trying to figure out if they should still mount a campaign for funding for BRT this year, or wait until 2016, which would push the project back by at least that many years. I can't even believe this is being debated, just pull the trigger, already.
2. It was announced just yesterday that M-1 Rail's chief administrative officer is quitting, and she didn't even give a good explanation of why she was leaving, leaving everyone nothing but to guess reason.
3. The guy who has headed up SEMCOG's Ann Arbor to Detroit regional rail is saying that it could be another two or three more years before they can get the project started because MDOT is still behind on a lot of things along the line, such as the West Detroit Connection Rail Project at Junction, which was funded in 2012, but which
still hasn't started construction. MDOT has the project included in this years budget, I think, but who knows. Even more to the point, SEMCOG really wants to hand this off to the RTA, but the RTA can't do much of anything until it gets its own house in order.
Again, it looks like all of these things are still on, and the Woodward streetcar is almost definitely a go since prelim construction work is already underway. But, as usual, there seems to be a lack of urgency. Some of the blame can be placed with the political situation in Lansing, and some of it can be placed with the kind of lazy and/or timid mass transit culture of Southeast Michigan. I just hope we get people in place, soon, who are screaming to get things moving from the rooftop. I hope the new CEO will be a vocal zealot when it comes to mass transit in the region, because the region needs a kick in the pants, at the moment.