Wayne County voters have passed a countywide transit millage in Tuesday's primary election.
The millage will expand transportation services for approximately 350,000 Wayne County residents who have minimal transportation options if they are not able to drive.
Supporters say Wayne County residents will now be able to commute to the neighboring Oakland and Macomb counties more easily due to an increase in public transportation routes and vehicles.
Connectivity has been a longstanding issue, particularly for residents who commute to and from communities that originally opted out of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) service.
Megan Owens is the executive director of Transportation Riders United.
She said this millage will eliminate this issue by establishing a connective system.
“For decades, Metro Detroit struggled with a kind of a patchwork system where some communities have transit and some don't. This decision finally eliminates that,” said Owens. “No longer will a single municipality be able to just opt out of the transportation services that seniors, people with disabilities, students and others need.”
She said her organization is thrilled to ensure that everyone has at least a baseline level of service if they are unable to drive.
For the 26 Wayne County communities that were already participating in the Wayne County transit millage before the primary, taxes will remain the same. This millage is a continuation of current services, along with an expansion to new areas, such as Detroit, which has its own transportation system.
Assad Turfe is the Deputy Wayne County Executive.
“This millage here, we're going to collect about $8 million from Detroit taxpayers, and the $8 million is going to be reinvested back into DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation),” said Turfe.
Opponents to the millage, including the organization, Not SMART Wayne, say that the system is too inefficient and underused to justify a countywide tax without seeing significant improvements first.
Turfe said a variety of community groups came together to make this millage possible.
“We got a united Wayne County, a connected Wayne County, for the first time in Wayne County's history. And ultimately now there is no more transit gaps between the three counties between Wayne, Oakland and Macomb. So we're finally in line with our neighboring counties, and we look forward to the future of great public transportation here in Southeast Michigan,” said Turfe.
