DETROIT – Voters have come out against a tax to fund a regional public transportation plan for the Detroit area.
Preliminary results counted by Wednesday morning showed voters weren't swayed by the proposed master transit plan from the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan's board.
View: RTA millage election results
Voters in Wayne and Washtenaw counties overall supported the tax, but it was opposed in Oakland and Macomb counties. The RTA could try again in two years.
The 20-year plan included a millage to raise an estimated $3 billion. Another $1.7 billion would have come from federal and state matching funds.
The plan would have created rapid transit lines and regional rail service. It also would have supplemented and connected current service offered in Detroit, suburban communities around the city, and the Ann Arbor area.
RTA Board Chairperson Paul Hillegonds and CEO Michael Ford offered this statement about the results:
“The extremely narrow defeat of the proposed millage for regional transit is a deeply disappointing setback for efforts to create a modern transit system that would position southeast Michigan to be a stronger competitor in the 21st Century both nationally and internationally.
“It leaves southeast Michigan as the only large region in the nation (and one of a few in the world) without a functioning regional rapid transit system. That means residents still will lack a convenient transit connection to jobs, communities will remain unconnected to one another, economic development will be more difficult and seniors and people with disabilities will lack the greater independence a fully functional transit system would provide.
Still, the fact remains that we have made significant progress over the last 18 months in developing a truly regional plan that meets the needs of the people and communities of this region. And the narrow margin of defeat indicates that many of our residents recognize the value of the plan and the region’s needs for it.
We could not have made that progress without the support of a broad-based coalition of supporters ranging from the grass roots and civic communities to the region’s business community. They devoted countless hours and significant resources to creating a truly regional plan and we are deeply grateful for their efforts. They deserve the gratitude of the entire region because we simply could not have made the progress we did without them.
When the Legislature and Governor created the Regional Transit Authority in 2012 we were given the charge of planning for and coordinating public transportation in the four-county Southeast Michigan region, including developing a plan for rapid transit. We will be sitting down with our board in the near future to determine our next steps in fulfilling that task."