People want more choices, not just more roads.
Across the nation and here at home in Michigan, an ever-growing percentage of the population would like to see better development of public transportation. This was evident in the push we saw from some of our state legislators recently to shift government funds away from corporate relocation incentives in the SOAR program and toward transit and wider community development.
The legislative attempt to invest more in transit was in many ways made possible by our state’s Public Transit Caucus, a group formed in the Michigan Legislature earlier this year that’s looking at ways to reform how public transportation is funded. While that effort hasn’t borne fruit yet, the formation of a dedicated group makes the chances better than ever that Michigan can pass legislation to increase investment in transit.
Over the last 70 years, policymakers have extensively invested in developing America’s roads and highways. The same cannot be said for public transportation options—be they buses, subways, trains, or trams. We have invested comparatively minuscule amounts into improving existing public transportation options and creating new ones. The results are stark. While we have more miles of highway than any other country save for China, we have dramatically shrunk our passenger rail network and systematically underfunded local public transportation networks.
The way the government has invested in transportation infrastructure has had an enormous impact on how our nation has developed. In 1956, when President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act that authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System, it was estimated that America’s population was around 164 million. Fast forward to today, and that number is over 333 million—an increase of more than double.
As the nation built freeways and the nebulous network of highways that supplement them, planners designed the system to easily transfer automobile traffic between city centers and rapidly growing suburbs. Our cities sprawled. Urban development consumed farmland and forests at a rapid clip as we built low-density neighborhoods on tens of millions of acres on city outskirts. Employers and retailers followed, and our nation saw the rise of office parks, standalone suburban office buildings, and the mall—strip and enclosed. Here in Michigan, while the population of the Detroit metropolitan area has increased by about 33%—from around 3 million in 1950 to just over 4.3 million today—the extent of urban sprawl has increased by around four times, or 400%.
With the nation’s growing investment in roads big and small, racial inequality further entrenched itself in our spatial geography. Suburbs won the competition for investment, while city public services floundered, and a mass exurban migration ensued. White residents made up the vast majority of those able to move due to mortgage discrimination, redlining, and racial covenants in property deeds that forbade nonwhite individuals from purchasing houses or moving into rentals.
Seventy years of deliberate policy action is an extremely powerful force, the kind of force that shapes a society.
Last year, two state representatives, Rep. Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) and Rep. Mike McFall (D-Hazel Park), took a step toward swinging the transit investment policy pendulum in the other direction. Both legislators are passionate about the development of more transportation options here in Michigan. Partially as a result of a recommendation from Detroit’s Transportation Riders United (TRU), they formed what is now officially named the Public Transit Caucus, in the Michigan legislature.
The Public Transit Caucus is a group of Michigan State House Representatives and State Senators, Republicans and Democrats who are united by their interest in improving Michigan’s public transit options. As of publication, 47 legislators have joined, including local State Rep. Betsy Coffia. That’s nearly a third of Michigan’s legislators. The caucus held its first meeting on February 28, 2024, and discussions focused on three areas:
* increase transit funding
* provide more support for local bus operators
* envision the future of Michigan’s transit
“For me, this is about practical, good government for Michigan, said Rep. Morgan. “If we want to grow our population or economy, we have to expand access to transit. Increasing numbers of young people have expressed the importance of having access to transit as a consideration for where they choose to work or live. Making life more affordable and accessible for our state is critical to attracting talent and good jobs.”
Why did the group focus on increased transit funding and buses? If the legislature permanently increases transit funding, local transit agencies won’t have to compete for a shrinking piece of the funding pie due to inflation and/or cuts. Instead, they could increase service and develop their networks. Further, there would be more funds for making improvements to Michigan’s Amtrak services, expanding our state rail network to northern and central Michigan, creating new public transit lines, and investigating/developing other unique mobility solutions.
Supporting the authorities and agencies that operate our local buses is synonymous with supporting public transportation in Michigan. Buses are the backbone of our public transportation networks, and are incredibly important to the continued development of transit infrastructure. Many new light rail and subway lines in the United States have been designed as higher-capacity replacements for bus routes—as these routes became popular, they attracted so many riders that despite frequent service they were unable to handle the growing volume of passengers. So, one of the most promising steps toward the creation of a new rail service in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, or another Michigan city would be the development of frequent, extremely popular bus routes in these cities. Additionally, local buses are a key last-mile transit option for rail passengers arriving in a new city without a car.
Even in the state that gave birth to the American automobile and raised it into a mass consumer good, policymakers are beginning to change their mindsets around transportation.
Some of the paradigm shift resulted from self-study and reflection by policymakers. But the biggest reason for the shift is countless conversations constituents had with legislators, municipal officials, and their staff. Citizens would not give up on their demand for investments in public transit. Young people in particular are choosing to live in cities that have affordable and convenient mass transit. If your local state rep and senator have joined the Public Transit Caucus, think about reaching out to thank them (our action alert email makes this very easy for you to do!), and tell them why transit is important to you. If your legislators haven’t joined, consider encouraging them to do so and explain why their support for the development of public transit is a good investment.
Outside of these discussions, the negative effects of the current, almost entirely highway-centric state of affairs become plainer to see by the day. Parents who have to rely on under-resourced bus networks for work miss hours of each day with their children. The malls that attempted to replace our downtowns continue their precipitous declines. Seniors find their mobility severely restricted if they can no longer drive themselves. Car prices reach record highs. Commutes take longer than ever. The communities that the highways originally divided yearn to be reconnected, and so much more. Every day, more and more people are waking up to the fact that this state of affairs is untenable. So, it is extremely positive that a significant contingent of Michigan’s lawmakers is working to change this, and we look forward to seeing what the Public Transit Caucus accomplishes this year and beyond.
Michael Goldman Brown Jr., Groundwork Transportation Specialist
michael.goldmanbrown@groundworkcenter.org
