Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Ray LaHood, the Obama administration's top transportation official, said Monday that they want to see progress on stalled legislation to overhaul mass transit in metro Detroit by the end of the year.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Snyder and Bing said they are meeting with state lawmakers and members of Michigan's congressional delegation to overcome divisions about the proposed Regional Transit Authority legislation that is stalled in the Legislature, according to Matt Helms in the Free Press.
Bing and Snyder want a system of speedy buses -- called bus rapid transit, or BRT -- connecting downtown to key suburbs and Metro Airport, as well as a suburban line between Mt. Clemens and Birmingham. It would cost perhaps $400 million and be eligible for considerable federal start-up money.
"This is something I don't think anyone's proud of," Snyder said, urging lawmakers to set aside differences. To build it would require the Legislature to approve creating a regional transit authority.
It would come with significant power for the transit authority to force the Detroit Department of Transportation and suburban SMART bus system to coordinate routes and resources.
The three leaders acknowledged they have to surmount long-standing divisions -- the Detroit delegation in Lansing is concerned about shifting control away from the city, and suburban lawmakers worry about paying for transit that many suburbanites don't use.
