A grand vision to build up metro Detroit’s historically fractured transit infrastructure makes its official debut Tuesday.
The Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority spent over a year crafting and gathering public input on the master plan.
Some core features of the plan are already public knowledge. It will feature bus rapid transit lines along three main regional corridors: Woodward Avenue, Michigan Avenue, and Gratiot Avenue.
Rapid bus lines share some similarities with light rail. They are speedier than regular buses, often running in designated lanes to avoid traffic.
A revived commuter rail line connecting Detroit and Ann Arbor is also in the mix, as is a transit connection to Detroit Metro Airport.
This debut also launches the start of an all-out push for a new, four-county property tax millage. The RTA covers Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties.
The plan’s success hinges on that millage proposal passing this November. It would provide a funding mechanism for building and operating new transit services envisioned in the plan.
