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The majority of Metro Detroiters don't get it. When it comes to public transit, they're stuck in the Stone Age.
Take a bus? You're kidding me, that's for folks who can't afford a car. Light rail? I have a car, why should I pay for others to get to work?
The me-first mantra is nothing new. So is the anti-public transit mindset.
It's sad. Metro Detroiters had the opportunity on Tuesday to pass The Regional Transit Authority millage that would have raised $3 billion and let the region tap into $1.7 billion in state and federal funds to address our woefully inadequate public transit. Instead, the measure only passed in Wayne and Washtenaw counties. Macomb and Oakland voted against it, and the measure died.
I lived in D.C. for more than 14 years and took the subway and bus all the time and seldom drove my car during the week. It was great. I marveled at the concept of public transportation. And it wasn't just for people who couldn't afford a car. Don Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, took the subway sometimes. Men and women in dress attire took buses as did people who couldn't afford a car, kids who weren't old enough to drive and those who were physically challenged.
Unfortunately on Tuesday, many Metro Detroiters decided they didn't want to dish out a little money to make the region a better place to live and help it thrive economically.
Fortunately, others in the country don't feel the same.
The Amalgamated Transit Union issues a release saying that many transit ballot initiatives and referenda passed Tuesday all across the United States.
“Voters have spoken through the ballot box, and they said they want more public transit and are willing to pay for it,” International President Larry Hanley says in the statement. “Even Americans who don't depend on transit themselves voted for it because they understand we all need better transit for economic opportunity, cleaner air and less congestion.”
The release lists these results:
- Los Angeles County voters back a measure to raise billions of dollars through taxes to fund a major expansion of rail, bus transit, 10 highway projects, and bike/pedestrian projects.
- Toledo voters pass a 10-year, 1.5 mill renewal levy to fund Toledo Area Regional Transport Authority (TARTA)’s bus service including personnel, facilities and maintenance.
- Atlanta voters pass a sales and user tax referendum to upgrade buses, Beltline transit, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority extensions and stations, and create new bus rapid transit lines with a 0.5 percent tax increase that will raise $2.5 billion over 40 years.
- In Puget Sound, WA, voters overwhelmingly pass Sound Transit Proposition 1. It will fund high quality transit through expanded light rail, new bus rapid transit (BRT), and other transit service to connect more of the region’s residents and workers.
- In Marion County, IN, a successful referendum for a 0.25-percent income tax increase will raise $56 million per year to fund a regional rapid transit network of expanded bus service and bus rapid transit lines.
Metro Detroiters need to get on board and roll out of the Stone Age.
