Opinion: Oakland transit millage will sustain vital lifeline for workers, seniors
Pamela Campbell, a retired businesswoman from Southfield, relies on public transit to get to doctors’ appointments.
She calls it a lifesaver.
Lukas Lasecki rides the bus from Farmington to Royal Oak nearly every day to get to classes at Oakland Community College.
Art Daniels and Elizabeth Uren say public transportation gives them the freedom to see their friends at the Waterford Senior Center and the ability to be more social.
“The basics of life are denied if you don’t have public transportation,” Elizabeth Uren says. “My life wouldn’t be the same without it.”
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Over the last few months, I’ve gotten to know some of the people who depend on public transportation services for their daily chores, for critical health care services, for the rides they need to get to their jobs.
For many of these people, public transportation is their only option. For others, it’s an alternative way to save money on gas and parking or to lessen their carbon footprint.
Help for local transit providers
The Oakland Public Transportation Millage ― 0.95 mills ― is on the Nov. 8 ballot and will provide funding for not just the SMART bus system, but for the Western Oakland Transportation Authority (WOTA), the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) and the Older Person’s Commission (OPC) in the Rochester area.
The money those three local transit providers will receive is more than what is being generated by local millages or the general funds and fares from the communities that participate. That means that existing service can expand so even more people can get rides and more connectionscan be made with other communities.
Did you know that between WOTA, NOTA and OPC, nearly 90,000 people got rides in 2021 to healthcare appointments, school, shopping and other essential destinations? And these services help some of the most vulnerable in our communities, the elderly, disabled and veteran populations, as well as transporting students to college classes and workers to jobs.
On top of that, SMART still provides more than 3.7 million rides each year to people in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.
The funding that is slated for the SMART bus system will allow them to expand to major employment centers like Novi and provide routes and on-demand connector services to areas that aren’t being served now. Last year, more than 200,000 connector rides were provided to regional residents.
Expanded reservation service
This millage, which replaces the SMART millage, will also allow for the expansion of reservation-based and app-based services provided by SMART and the three local transit agencies. In Oakland County alone, more than 115,000 reservation-based rides were provided in the last year by SMART.
This millage proposal will be on every ballot in Oakland County on Nov. 8. And all of Oakland’s communities, not just the towns that are serviced today by SMART and the other local transit agencies, will receive public transportation service with this Oakland Transportation Millage. The money generated in Oakland will be administered, distributed and annually audited by Oakland County and will stay in Oakland to provide transportation options for the county’s residents and businesses.
The millage will cost the average homeowner in Oakland County about $9 a month. For the communities that have been paying the SMART millage, it’s actually a reduction.
I have heard from people who say they won’t ever use public transportation and don’t believe they should pay for it. But for many people ― essential workers, seniors, people with disabilities and students ― transit is their only option.
When I visited my Mom in the hospital a few years back, her doctors probably didn’t use public transportation to get to work, but I know that some of the orderlies, janitors, cafeteria workers, nurses and others who cared for her did and I’m grateful they were there for her.
While other issues voters will decide might get more headlines, Oakland County voters should remember that public transportation ― a vital resource for so many of our residents ― is also on the ballot on Nov. 8.
Dave Coulter is the Oakland County Executive.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Oakland transit millage will sustain vital lifeline for many
