Here’s how the RTA’s plans to improve Detroit regional transit are shaping up

A rendering of a proposed bus rapid transit station in Eastern Market.

There would still be shortcomings and gaps, but plans to shore up our embarrassingly inadequate public transportation system in metropolitan Detroit carry the distinct whiff of a credible and functional system that can compare with those found in other big cities.

On Thursday, I stopped by the second of two public workshops held by the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan to view plans for express service between the suburbs and city along Woodward and Gratiot Avenues. I spoke with Travis Gonyou, the RTA’s community outreach and communications manager, about plans for bus rapid transit, service to Detroit Metro Airport and passenger rail connection between Ann Arbor and Detroit.

Here’s how transit works to the airport in Washington D.C.

The RTA will propose a yet-to-be-specified tax levy on the Nov. 8 ballot for voters in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties to support ongoing operation of the system. Gonyou said unlike the tax levy for SMART bus, there will be no ability for individual communities to opt out of the system and create holes in bus service.

Read the rest of my post on Daily Detroit.