Monday, August 29, 2005

Mass transit: Detroit's pipe dream?

Light-rail backers face roadblocks

Selling leaders on plan is key to $100 million study, supporters say; foes say push is too late for Michigan

By Amy Lee / The Detroit News

Why we need mass transit • 96% in Metro area drive to work • One-third of Detroit households lack a car • The average family spends $9,000 yearly on two cars Why we don't have it • Lack of regional cooperation • No local funding • The pro-car "Motor City mindset" What has been proposed • Rapid bus transit Metro-wide • Light rail on Woodward corridor • Rails connecting Detroit, Dearborn and Ann Arbor What's next SEMCOG has scheduled a public meeting to outline the results of its study for mass transit routes that could connect Ann Arbor and Detroit. The meeting is scheduled to be held from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 21 in rooms 103-123 in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron River in Ann Arbor. Mass transit or massive mistake The awarding of the $100 million in federal money for a transit study comes at a time when Metro Detroit has undergone billions of dollars' worth of highway rebuilding since 1997 in an effort to improve the increasingly clogged road system used by 99 percent of commuters. Does metro Detroit need rapid transit? Yes No Get results and comments Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

ANN ARBOR -- Metro Detroit leaders were just handed $100 million in federal money to design a light-rail line they say could carry commuters between Ann Arbor and Detroit, prompting hope for the future and concern that the money could end up squandered.

The awarding of the $100 million in federal money for a transit study comes at a time when Metro Detroit has undergone billions of dollars' worth of highway rebuilding since 1997 in an effort to improve the increasingly clogged road system used by 99 percent of commuters.

"This is critical to the region. Every other major city has public transportation going downtown," said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who is credited with scoring the grant for Michigan. "We have a world-class airport now, and this could be an important additional piece to the airport development. This is a significant investment and one that should be seen as a significant long-term commitment to making this a reality."

Critics of the Detroit-Ann Arbor plan already have emerged. Some point out that a current railroad right of way runs more than three miles north of the airport, meaning travelers would have to use shuttle buses to get to the terminals.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson called the grant "a colossal abuse of taxpayers" and questioned the selection of an Ann Arbor-to-Detroit route.

He said he'd prefer to see the money used to widen Interstate 75, which goes through his county; the highway is the top destination in Michigan for commuters who cross county lines.

"I don't know who they're appealing to with that loop. With Detroit's shrinking population, there's less and less critical mass to support a fixed transit system," he said.

"They don't need to spend $100 million to realize that this is just ridiculous. I'll form a company and tell them that for $20 million."

At least nine previous attempts to build a modern, regional transit system here have failed. Advocates and foes alike say the obstacles are deeper than the so-called "Motor City mindset," the commonly held notion that Metro Detroiters will not embrace mass transit because of the region's car culture and many workers' close association with the auto industry.

Planners argue that a safe, modern and efficient regional public transit system can spur development and jump-start Michigan's struggling economy. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments over the past few years has spent $3 million studying the Ann Arbor-to-Detroit mass transit route, which loosely follows Interstate 94 and comes close to Detroit Metro Airport.

But even the most staunch mass transit advocates worry the money will join other failed attempts to bring public transportation to the region, the largest urban area in the nation without a modern public transportation system.

Since the 1980s, 30 other metropolitan regions in the nation, including Salt Lake City, Denver and Atlanta, have built light-rail and rapid bus transit routes, according to the Federal Transit Administration. About 70 others are in the design and construction phase.

Roadblocks in Metro Detroit include:

• Job sprawl; there is not one concentrated area of Metro Detroit where a large majority of people work.

• Lack of a regional transportation authority that could oversee a project.

• Lack of local and state funding.

Proponents argue mass transit lines fuel economic development and help crumbling older cities retain residents and cash flow.

Officials at the SEMCOG, which will administer the grant, could not provide specific cost estimates for the Ann Arbor-to-Detroit mass transit plan. The group also could not specifically project how many people would use it or how exactly it would provide an economic boost for the region. About 41,500 people make trips between Ann Arbor and Detroit each day.

Brad Bellamy, 23, a native Tennessean who moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry, said an efficient regional light-rail system would go a long way to convince young professionals that Detroit is re-establishing itself as a world-class city.

"Atlanta's got a great system. Detroit's kind of behind the times," said Bellamy, who lives in Canton Township and drives to his job in Allen Park. "It's a big enough city to support something like that."

Urban groups in recent years have spent countless hours and millions in state and federal dollars on studies to re-establish a mass transit system in Detroit, which in the 1920s boasted the largest government-owned transit system in the country. The proliferation of the automobile and General Motors Corp.'s push to replace streetcars and trolleys with buses made that system obsolete by 1956.

A total of 140 bus routes operate in southeast Michigan with an average weekday ridership of more than 200,000, according to SEMCOG.

Just 1 percent of Michiganians take public transport to work, compared to a national average of 5 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The agency envisions a Metro Detroit landscape with arteries of mass transit formed by a mix of light-rail, rapid-transit buses, fixed-route bus service and small shuttle buses for neighborhood service. Whatever service method is chosen for further study with the $100 million grant, officials acknowledge that service to Detroit Metropolitan Airport will be critical to selling the project to regional leaders.

An October 2001 survey of 1,400 southeast Michigan residents conducted by SEMCOG, however, showed 77 percent would use a system, including 42 percent who said they'd be "very likely" to use it and another 35 percent said they'd be "somewhat likely" to use mass transit if it were safe, clean and affordable.

"If we don't have regional cooperation on this issue, we will continue to die," said Larry Hands, a board member and treasurer of Transportation Riders United, a mass transit advocacy group. "Look at the region now. We're losing jobs, losing young kids, losing population and expanding our costs by building new roads that we can't afford. It doesn't make sense."

But doubters abound.

"It's going to take an act of God to get this to happen," said Keith Schneider, a mass transit advocate and deputy director of the Michigan Land Use Institute. "People have to agree this is a high priority, there has to be consensus from local leaders and residents, and we need to see some tremendous leadership from the MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation), as well as perhaps some changes to the Michigan Constitution, to make this a reality."

Weighing the options

SEMCOG officials intend to present options for running a modern mass transit line from Ann Arbor to Detroit at a series of September public meetings. The group in July 2001 estimated a bus rapid-transit network would cost nearly $2 billion to build, while building a light-rail system could top $8 billion.

Cost estimates can't be pegged until the agency chooses a route and the class of service to pursue, said Carmine Palumbo, transportation director for SEMCOG.

"It's going to take us several years to get all the money in place for whatever alternative we take," said SEMCOG Executive Director Paul Tait. "The $100 million will get us through the preliminary engineering and gives us a start on capital, whether that's buying tracks, trains, buses, whatever. It's a heck of a jump start."

The cash comes from the federal New Starts program, which doles out money to develop mass transit projects. Michigan taxpayers have sent about $400 million to the fund since 2000, but none of that cash has come back to Michigan for public transportation programs, according to Dan Beatty, deputy director of the state of Michigan's Washington office. The grant requires at least a 20 percent match, or $20 million in local funds, to be released to Michigan. SEMCOG expects communities that host the line to kick in some cash to pay for it.

Other critics question the focus on Detroit for the light-rail destination even as the downtown area is losing ground as a job center. Indeed, the 2000 U.S. Census shows more Metro Detroiters commute to work in Oakland County than any other county in Michigan. The census shows 290,000 people cross into Oakland County each day for work, while 234,000 commuters head into Wayne County.

During the 1990s, an additional 116,000 people found jobs in Oakland, including many who live within the county. Meanwhile, Wayne County, long the state's economic center, lost 1,300 workers.

Still, transit boosters argue that the region needs to capitalize on cash already spent to develop the Ann Arbor-to-Detroit line.

"The Ann Arbor line is the clearest opportunity to make the case that safe, modern, convenient and efficient mass transportation can be effective in southeast Michigan," said Schneider, of the Michigan Land Use Institute. "It needs to have a starter line to convince people this can be done and be done well."

Potential roadblocks

The most immediate and glaring challenge for mass transit advocates is to establish a regional transportation authority that could tackle the extensive design, engineering and operations costs for a modern system.

Advocates had pinned their hopes on the now-defunct Detroit Area Regional Transportation Authority or DARTA, but a recent Court of Appeals decision determined the agency was created illegally. Two routes exist to revive DARTA: approval from the Legislature or the blessings of the county commissions in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb, which would circumvent the need for legislative sign-off.

A new bill to re-establish that group has been drafted by state Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, but the Legislature will not take it up until the fall. Meanwhile, MOSES, a coalition of 72 urban and suburban church congregations that tackle urban issues, is working to win support from the county commissions, Thomas said.

"DARTA simply provides the legal framework necessary for locals to come together and see how they want to deal with this pressing issue," Thomas said. "The message from Washington in awarding us this money is clear: If you start acting cooperatively as a region, we'll reward that."

SEMCOG's Tait argues establishing a regional tax, be it on sales, income or property, can not only provide some local matching funds, it would be needed to sustain multimillion-dollar annual operating costs once a system is built. Fares alone will not cover the operation costs. The Michigan Constitution forbids regional taxing, so Tait's plan would require support from the Legislature or voter approval to become reality.

Lack of consensus

Metro Detroit leaders are all over the board when it comes to mass transit, which nearly paralyzes the region's ability to capitalize on the $100 million grant.

In Dearborn, officials have taken steps to construct a station that would serve as a stop for any future mass transit system. The state's transportation department awarded the city a $1 million grant to study the design, placement and feasibility to have a stop on Michigan Avenue north of The Henry Ford.

"We always push automobiles because we make and sell them for a living, but they shouldn't be mutually exclusive. We really need to have a good mass transit system in order to sustain strong economic growth," said Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido.

But critics argue the $100 million grant will ultimately be wasted because mass transit isn't something that can be retrofitted.

"It's just too late for mass transit to be relevant for Detroit. People have shifted their work habits away from downtown and into the suburbs," said state Rep. Leon Drolet, R-Clinton Township.

"Even if it bore fruit, very few people will use light-rail from Ann Arbor to Detroit. It's going to end up being a huge waste of money."

You can reach Amy Lee at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com.