The Metro: RTA of Southeast Michigan preparing ‘action-oriented’ master plan
The RTA prepares a new master plan every year to collect public feedback and insight from transit providers.
In August and September of 2023, RTA set up booths at 11 events across the four counties and spoke with riders at three regional transit centers. Attendees were asked to place stickers on an interactive board to identify which of the goals and strategies they felt were the highest priorities.
The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is preparing a new master plan.
Established in 2012 to support the regional growth of public transit, the RTA prepares a new master plan every year to collect public feedback and insight from transit providers.
Ben Stupka, Executive Director at the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, joined The Metro on Friday to discuss how the RTA is approaching the process a little differently this time around.
“We’ve developed it to be more of an action-oriented plan,” he said. “So what can we do tomorrow, not necessarily just fully focused on what is a 30-year vision for transit. But what do we want to do in 30 years and what can we do tomorrow, or next year to push this agenda forward and keep pushing it forward.”
Michigan’s population is declining, and a recent Growing Michigan Together Council report named a better transit system as one of the priorities for community building in the state. Detroit also has a large aging population that relies on transit for mobility, Stupka says.
One step transit providers can take is increasing frequency — something Stupka says the RTA is working toward.
“That is the number one way to attract ridership, to increase reliability, is just to have the buses come more often,” he said.
Stupka says the RTA is waiting to hear back on a federal grant allowing for transit stop enhancements and reliability between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, as well as in metro Detroit along Michigan, Gratiot and Woodward avenues. The RTA is also working to establish the Access to Transit program, providing money for small transit improvements throughout the region.
More headlines from The Metro on Feb. 23, 2024:
- ProPublica reporter Anna Clark joined the show to discuss Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, which can provide up to $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. Clark says people wrongfully convicted have not been able to fully leverage this law.
- Co-founder and Curator of Cinema Detroit Paula Guthat spoke with co-hosts Tia Graham and Nick Austin about how rising rent prices forced Cinema Detroit to close. Find out how they’re still spreading their love of movies across the region.
- The 25th annual College and Trade Fair is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24 at Second Ebenezer Church. Bishop Edgar Vann joined the show to talk about the importance of adding skilled trades to the recruiting event.
- WDET’s Russ McNamara spoke with NYU history professor and fascism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat about whether former President Donald Trump’s speech on the campaign trail warrants calling him a fascist.
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