The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan will host the first in a series of open house meetings to seek public input for its regional master transit plan. The first meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20 at Macomb Community College's Lorenzo Cultural Center in Community Hall and is open to all members of the public.
“Effective public transit is an important component to a thriving region, even for those who do not think they will use it,” RTA CEO Michael Ford said in a press release. “We hope to achieve substantial participation in the planning process from both users and non-users alike.”
Created in late 2012 during a rather hellish lame-duck session in the Michigan Legislature, the RTA
has hit a number of snags in its mission to create a functional public transit system in the Southeast Michigan. Due to lack of funding, the agency's first pick for CEO left before having signed a contract.
The RTA
recently announced the beginning of a planning process to develop a regional master transit plan for link Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties. The RTA is calling this plan Building Equitable Sustainable Transit — or BEST.
Macomb Community College is located at 44575 Garfield Rd., Clinton Township. More information is available at
macomb.edu.
Read our cover story from last year about metropolitan Detroit's terrible public transit
here.
