DETROIT – Detroit has struggled for years with public transit, but improvements are being made.
Transportation Riders United (TRU) for Southeast Michigan hosted The State of Transit Tuesday to discuss the opportunities and challenges of public transit.
The event included an update on the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) launching an express-service bus route linking downtown Detroit to Detroit Metro Airport.
“We’re going to try and get that up and running by the end of March for March Madness and certainly before the (NFL) Draft,” said RTA Director Ben Stupka.
TRU Executive Director Megan Owens talked about the overall challenges facing public transit in the region.
Owens said, “Our region continues to spend just one-third of what most major metropolitan areas spend on transit.”
A panel of state lawmakers discussed what makes public transit so important to the region.
“Transit investment is economic development, and we have to get out of this mindset that it’s just giving money to the companies and hoping for the best,” said State Senator Mallory McMorrow.
State Representative Donavan McKinney talked about his troubling experience using transit to get to and from school as a teenager in Detroit and why making improvements moving forward is so important.
“We have to do more,” McKinney said. “This is how we’re going to keep our younger generation from moving out (of Michigan).”