Capital Conference

Session Resources

Evaluation

2008 Capital Conference Session Summary

Moving the People/Getting the Jobs/Examples of How Transit Can Work in Michigan

Public transportation is the best idea for the future in terms of saving fuel, decreasing urban sprawl, and lessening our dependence on fossil fuels.  If you own two cars, and you give up one in favor of public transportation, you will save $6,500 a year.  The idea of public transportation to be used by one and all and for not a lot of money is not simple to implement.  In 2001, The Rapid (in Grand Rapids) took over a non-functioning transportation authority.  In seven years, ridership had doubled and hybrid-electric buses have been added to the fleet.  

The mission of The Rapid is to decrease travel time for its users and increase efficiency.  People will more likely choose public transportation if it is dependable, cheap, and gets them close to where they want to go.  But what about riders who are disabled?  A pilot transportation voucher program, which gives disabled citizens vouchers or checkbooks to get rides, is getting started.  These ride vouchers allow disabled people the autonomy that the rest of us take for granted—the ability to, on a whim, go shopping, visit relatives and friends, go out for recreational opportunities, handle the crucial need of receiving healthcare, or getting to a job.  These two examples of public transportation ideas in Michigan need to be the tip of the iceberg.  But without some federal funding coming back to Michigan (the last federal funding for transportation was in 1976), the big all-encompassing mass movement of people across the state is not going to happen. 

Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak), Chair, Public Transit Subcommittee, House Transportation Committee, spoke of some enticing facts—for every dollar spent on public transportation, seven dollars comes back to the economy.  Public transportation could be the next economic development tool.  The lack of public transportation in Southeast Michigan, where Rep Donigan is from, hampers business recruitment.  SEMCOG and other organizations have been working on a public transportation plan for Southeast Michigan for years.  A commuter rail from Ann Arbor to Detroit has been discussed.  But these types of initiatives need support, and a lot of it.  So stay tuned.