Township Treasurer Leon Drolet, a longtime critic of regional transit efforts, was among those who questioned the value of SMART service to the community. The township earlier this year passed a resolution asking the county to provide individual communities with a SMART opt-out option. Macomb Township trustees, during a board meeting in June, voted to continue the township's transit service arrangement with Richmond/Lenox EMS.
The EMS provides shuttle services for residents in 10 communities, including New Baltimore, New Haven and Macomb and Chesterfield townships. SMART also coordinates with other transit services in the region, such as Richmond/Lenox Emergency Medical Services. The Detroit Department of Transportation provides transportation services in the city of Detroit. SMART provides bus and transportation services in communities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties and operates the limited-stop, express FAST buses seen on Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues that travel into and out of the heart of Detroit. Macomb County is the only county in metro Detroit that is “all in” on the SMART millage, and the recent split board vote highlights the challenges facing SMART in a region where the very concept of public transportation has become controversial, perhaps more so than in any other comparable metropolitan area in the country. Gibbons said those authorities are responsible for getting the millage placed on the ballot in communities in those counties. Unlike Macomb County, those counties have transportation authorities. SMART has not yet approached transportation officials in Wayne and Oakland counties about a millage. That would be the new millage amount and new length of time for the millage. He said he was not surprised SMART came back with another proposal.Ĭounty Corporation Counsel John Schapka said under their board rules, the commissioners have the authority to consider an issue based on significant new information that was unknown to them when they took the other vote in June. More: SMART bus system leader pledges new direction millage renewal to be sought in NovemberĬounty Board Chairman Don Brown said he is expecting all of the commissioners to attend both meetings this week.
MACOMB TOWNSHIP FREE
SMART General Manager Dwight Ferrell told the Free Press in a statement after last month's vote that it was SMART's objective to work with the county board "and ensure the voters of Macomb County can have their voice heard on the future of transit.” She said the suggested length of the proposed millage expanding from four years to five years "will allow for a one-year overlap of funding between millage votes." While SMART is proposing a slightly smaller millage than before, it will "look for improved efficiencies and productivity within the current system of services in order to adjust for the shortfall," spokesperson Beth Gibbons told the Free Press in an email Tuesday. pedestrian safety efforts, says 'no places' can be considered safe here 16 to approve language for the November ballot. She said that she believes voters should decide if a millage rate should be considered for SMART. In her post, Xiong said she supports public transportation and as a college student took the SMART bus from Warren to downtown Detroit and back every day. She said she did not have time to return for the prior board vote. Last month, she said she attended the senior executives in state and local government certificate program at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, near Boston, where she inexpensively rode the subway. Xiong said in a recent Facebook post that she plans to vote yes to place the proposal on the ballot.
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