A rendering of a proposed BRT station in downtown Pontiac.
The Regional Transit authority of Southeast Michigan released its long-awaited master plan today regarding its $4.6 billion public transportation plan, including this new video that neatly summarizes all the various moving parts.
It stars former WDIV-TV news anchor-turned pitchman Emery King, always a class act (and who looks sharp in a salt-and-pepper beard) pitching the RTA’s tagline “Rapid, Reliable, Regional.”
I’ve written a decent amount about the RTA’s plans. Tuesday’s announcement makes official its intention to ask voters to approve a 20-year, 1.2-mill tax levy in November, as well as a few details that weren’t public knowledge previously, such as bus rapid transit service between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and various cross-regional routes. You can read more about the master plan here.
The Freep has more details about the plan:
Under the plan, 11 cross-county connector routes along major thoroughfares, such as Van Dyke, Fort Street, Grand River, Greenfield, Plymouth, Jefferson/Harper and numerous Mile roads, would build on existing SMART and Detroit Department of Transportation networks but provide buses in some cases every 15 minutes and eliminate the hassle of transfers between DDOT and SMART.
Four commuter express routes — Ann Arbor-Plymouth-Livonia, Canton Express, I-75 and M-59 — would provide weekday express rush hour service to and from job centers.
Five premium airport express routes would connect Ann Arbor, Troy, Novi, Macomb County and Detroit to Metro Airport.
Local bus service would be expanded in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas, and other extensions would, according to a draft map, add service to the Livonia, Northville, Canton, Utica, Farmington Hills and Rochester Hills areas. A Groesbeck Highway route would be added in Macomb County and Detroit, and another extension would connect Pontiac to Oakland County International Airport.
What do you think of RTA’s plan?
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