In the current AATA budget, there is approximately $230,000 in staff time for planning the WALLY commuter rail service that other communities have already said they do not want to support financially. Couldn’t we reduce the number of transit administrators and increase local bus service by $230,000?

It does not matter how lofty the transit goals are. If other communities are not willing to contribute to the cost of expanded transit, then we should stop using Ann Arbor transit funds to study these expansion ideas.

I don’t see a conflict between expanding transit to new areas and improvements within the existing footprint. My motivation is that we need both, and a new millage would include the entire service area, including Ann Arbor, for precisely that reason. If you have other ideas for funding better service in Ann Arbor, without new revenue, please do suggest them.

Vivienne, I’m not sure anyone has truly found transportation policy enlightenment; the web of transportation decision-making is indeed tangled. (In fact it’s often more like independent strands.) WATS is the administrative body responsible for planning and allocating state and federal transport money, just as the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is for the greater metro Detroit region. But in general, since these regional bodies have limited authority, they are not responsible for initiating particular transportation projects; that is the role of other, predominantly more localized agencies, like AATA, cities and the Road Commission. (An exception is Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail, managed by SEMCOG, and the pace of that project proves the rule.) MDOT does indeed make decisions on state roads, such as Washtenaw – though not on most of the sidewalks adjacent to it, since the state right-of-way along much of the corridor only extends to the curb!

I don’t know if anyone would argue that this system makes sense. There’s value in local self-determination, just as there is in individual liberty. Paul Ryan’s distaste for “central planners” isn’t entirely unfounded. But I would respond that freedom, and local control, also carry accompanying responsibilities. And when no one can take charge of common challenges – such as transportation – that affect many individuals and multiple jurisdictions, we ultimately lose the larger freedom to decide our future.

I stand by my statement that the vast majority of the population of the opt-in areas already have service. Saline has a population of less than 9,000 compared with 114,000 in Ann Arbor and 19,000 in Ypsilanti. Providing service to Saline represents a tiny increase in population served. While the service in Ypsi Twp may be inadequate, it has some service. Opponents of the grand “county-wide” transit plan have consistently said rather than creating a huge system, we should improve the service within the current AATA area.

Sadly, the creation of a PA 196 authority probably has more to do with schemes to provide commuter rail and to finance Washtenaw corridor improvements than any real desire to provide transit to the whole county.

And Jack (18), it may be that the more rural townships would never have chosen to opt in to this authority. Certainly, participation from the more urbanized areas is more important. But it isn’t correct to say that most people in the opt-in areas already get AATA service.

Saline has no service at all right now. Ypsilanti Township has almost nothing south of I-94, except a single one-way loop that runs hourly weekdays and not at all on weekends. Most of Ypsilanti is similarly served by infrequent, one-way loops, even though it’s probably the most transit-dependent place in the county.

Not all of the people in these places are going to be riding the bus; neither do all Ann Arbor residents. But as in Ann Arbor, many of them would, and unless patterns of aging, gas prices, and general economic conditions suddenly reverse, I think that number will be increasing in future years.

What the townships are opting out of is the opportunity to tax their citizens. I’m sure they would accept the service as a gift, if offered.

Ann Arbor does have a say in the regional road system decisions through WATS.