Dispatches from the CAC: Part 1 (and it's already time for ACTION)

Greetings 2W4W fans!

Yes, it's been awhile and YES, we've still be attempting to bus/bike (mostly walk/bus - biking has largely been treacherous for us. See: shoulder and hip bruises) during the winter of 2014. It's been an adventure to say the least, but this is not why we come to you this lovely Tuesday morn.

Many of you know that I've been lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to serve on the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority's Citizen's Advisory Council (CAC). We've had a couple of really productive meetings of the CAC, have a great set of bylaws in place, and have been getting to know each other. It's a very dynamic and like-minded group of people, and I'll be posting some more observations and information about the CAC as we get rollin' (see what I did there?!).

Now, for what you have been waiting for.

We need you to take some action, transit friends. You know by now that we don't mess around (much).

Many of you have heard the news that the budget to largely fund the RTA won't be on the ballot for the voters until 2016. But until then, the RTA needs some basic operational funding to get going. Money for a CEO, some basic transit professional planners and consultants, some admin support, insurance, legal, accounting, basic office set-up, etc. I'm actually looking at the proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 and it's a little over $900k.

Extremely and all kinds of reasonable. Any start-up needs some funds to, uh, get started. Am I right!?

The Governor and Senate have passed $2M dollars in start-up funds to get us to 2016, as a part of supplemental appropriations bill SB 608. The Michigan House Committee has stripped these funds out, which leaves the RTA without those sorely needed (and can we all agree reasonable) start-up funds. Lord help me.

Our friends at Transit Riders United have created an easy link that you can use to contact the leadership in Michigan to urge them to add the RTA funding back into SB 608.
http://action.detroittransit.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13283

You can also reach out to your lawmakers via phone or email, urging them to support the $2M RTA Supplemental funding.
Find your Senator: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/default.html
Find your Representative: http://house.michigan.gov/

Please take action TODAY because the vote in the House may be as early as today! 

One day, when we are all happily riding the BRT down Woodward, and with the sun shining upon our stress-free faces, we will laugh and laugh about the silly days that we thought we couldn't get $2M for 2 years for an RTA in Michigan. We deserve to get to those days. Call now and THANKS. 

Adventures in Finding DDOT Bus Passes

Last Fall, 2 Women 4 Wheels researched locations that sell SMART bus passes. We found that SMART services 75 communities in Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb Counties. And in those 75 communities, there are only 20 places that sell bus passes. Only 20! What made it worse was that bus passes were rarely sold after business hours at many of the locations. We found this to be absolutely absurd and a real disservice to transit users including us. (Read the original post here.) 

The research led us to investigate locations where DDOT, which only services the city of Detroit, sells bus passes. Naturally, we started at DDOT’s website. We found 58 locations listed on the site that sell bus passes in the city. 58!!! Compared to SMART bus, DDOT definitely gets a gold star for having more locations to buy a bus pass.

But… wait… not all of the locations listed actually sell bus passes. Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately, when we visited the Lobby Store in Cadillac Tower, which was listed on DDOT’s website, we found that they hadn't sold bus passes in a few years.

Then we headed to the CVS Pharmacy on Woodward, which was also listed on DDOT’s website. All of the stores sell weekly and monthly bus passes, which is great but in our case, we needed the $10 pass, so we can pay for bus rides as we go. Unfortunately, CVS Pharmacy doesn’t sell those bus passes.

That led us to the Rosa Parks Transit Center, where we found this machine (see picture). Unlike SMART, DDOT has caught up with the 21st century and has a machine available as long the Transit Center is open.  It was really easy to use, too. For $10, we received a bus pass valued at $10. When we asked a security guard how late people can purchase bus passes, he replied until the Transit Center closes around midnight. Midnight!!! Well beyond normal business hours. Thank you DDOT! (We should also note that we met a police office at the Rose Parks Transit Center, who is familiar with our blog, and is willing to teach a bike safety workshop. Stay tuned for that adventure!)

Key “take aways” from our research:

• It’s way too much of a challenge to get a bus pass
• SMART needs to sell bus passes at more venues and during non-business hours
• DDOT needs to update their website with locations that actually sell their bus passes
• CVS Pharmacies should sell all the DDOT bus passes including the $10 pass
• We need one universal transit pass (please make this happen Regional Transit Authority)

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Quite a Week in Detroit Transit News!

This was quite the week for public transportation news in Detroit - we could barely keep up. If you missed some of the major announcements, don’t worry. 2 Women 4 Wheels will get you back on the transit track!

DDOT Has New Director

As you may recall last week, newly-elected Detroit Mayor Duggan fired the DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation) director and hired Dan Dirks. Fun fact - Dirks was one of our first fans - long before this recent announcement. A little bit about Dan - he used to be the general manager of the SMART bus system from 1998 to 2007. He also actually got on the bus to learn about some of the problems with DDOT - thank you! He told reporters on Thursday that DDOT buses will run on time within a month. While that’s a pretty bold statement, we welcome it and will check back in on that statement in mid to late-February.

Another announcement we read this past week announced that Detroit Mayor Duggan plans to *increase* DDOT services. Yes, you read that correctly - INCREASE!!! We’re so used to *decreases* in services from both SMART and DDOT that we had to read and reread the article to confirm that. We’re still a bit amazed!

And the last surprise we learned this week from DDOT is that they have a place on their website, where you can sign up for announcements by email. Whoa?! Does this mean that they’re actually going to share information with the public?! Well, we don’t really know that but what the hell - we definitely signed up and you should, too!

Hertel Steps Down as CEO of the RTA

John Hertel will leave the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and will continue as the general manager of SMART. Is this good or bad? We welcome your comments. 1) We didn’t really understand how he could do both jobs at once. 2) We’re concerned that this compromises the advancement of the RTA. Won’t they have to spend more time finding another CEO? Will that delay the process of getting a millage passed to fund the RTA? If so, will the legislature have to appropriate additional funds (and will they actually do it)? 3) Has Hertel ever used public transportation? For instance, does he use it during his daily commute to the SMART office in Detroit? This is a question we’ve had for a few years now and if someone could answer it, we would greatly appreciate it. 4) What’s going on with the RTA? We’ve heard they’re discussing a bus rapid transit system and that’s great but how will they work to improve communication with existing transit providers (aka DDOT and SMART).

Carmona Leaves M-1

Heather Carmona, who was the chief administrative officer, for M-1 left the transit project Friday. We didn’t see that coming. In other M-1 news, a public hearing is scheduled on Wednesday, January 22 from 5 to 7pm with a presentation at 6pm at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch. Find more information here.


Ummm… that’s a lot of transit news for Detroit. What did we miss?  More importantly, what new should we expect next week?

Crash Course in Metro-Detroit Transit

How do you use and support public transportation to move around metro-Detroit? Well, grab a snack and get comfy while you read this "crash course" on transit in the region.

SMART
As you know, we live in the Royal Oak area and work in Detroit, so it is convenient for us to bike to Woodward or the Royal Oak Transit Center to hop on any of the SMART Woodward buses to head south at $2 per ride. The 450 and 460 have multiple stops and bike racks. As do the 445 and the 475, which are “Limited” buses - that means less stops and quicker travel time. SMART services Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties.

Julie gets on the bus!

Unfortunately, a big challenge with SMART buses is that they ONLY travel in and out of Detroit during “peak” hours. What are peak hours? In the morning from 6 to 9am and in the evening from 3 to 6pm. As you can imagine, this greatly complicates happy hour for us. What happens if you need to get to Detroit during an off-peak time? You can take SMART south to the last stop on Woodward, which is at the State Fairgrounds. From there, you can pick up a DDOT bus and head south. Vice versa for heading north during an off peak time. (Special note - the buses are not linked very well so expect a 30 minute wait at the Fairgrounds. Check out a previous post where we we learned about this first hand.)

DDOT
The Detroit Department of Transportation services buses that run only in the city at the cost of $1.50 per ride for adults (slightly cheaper than SMART). We usually take the 53 bus up and down Woodward. It has bike racks (important note - not all buses have racks for bikes - boo!).

DDOT does have a unique “Text My Bus” campaign. That’s right - all you have to do is text 50464 the cross streets and you receive a fairly quick text back with times that the bus will arrive. Unfortunately, as we have learned by experience, the buses don’t have any tracking mechanism to provide accurate information of when it will actually arrive at the stop. Missed opportunity, right?! So for now, you get a text with the time that bus is *supposed* to arrive according to the bus schedule, which often is not the case.

People Mover
We don’t really use the People Mover but wanted to make sure to include it, as it is indeed referred to as public transit in the Motor City. Its three mile track circles downtown for just $0.75 per ride. For fun, check out this video as “Zelda and the Unibrows” test whether it’s faster to walk or take the People Mover. While it’s not the most appealing form of transit, it is helpful - especially during the cold winter months when you’re traveling downtown and just want to stay warm (however, moving the body and walking usually keeps you warm, too).

M-1 Rail
Another three miles of tracks are being built along Woodward Avenue to create a new form of transit, the M-1 Rail. What sets this rail project apart from the People Mover is that it’s linear and on the street with other traffic. The hope is that it will be the start of something bigger that hopefully in the future extends all the way north to Pontiac. Unfortunately, there are a number of concerns regarding this project including connectivity, bike accessibility on Woodward, and placement of the tracks on the sides rather than the middle (check out this video that explains why it might be better to have rail in the middle lane).

RTA
Why can't all the public transit options work together? Well, about a year ago, the Michigan State Legislature created the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority (RTA). One of the focal points is to facilitate that communication. However, it's been almost a year and we're not quite sure what is happening. We had it in our schedule to attend their board meeting earlier this week, but it was cancelled. We did recently learn that there is discussion of one single transit pass that could be used universally with SMART, DDOT, People Mover, and M-1. It's a start but we expect more as this region desperately needs a public transportation system that works!!!. (Stay tuned for future updates as Julie is on the RTA Citizen Advisory Council.)

Okay... this concludes your crash course on public transit in metro-Detroit. Are you still awake?! Keep a look out for future 2 Women 4 Wheels events inviting you to ride the bus with us! In the meantime, join us for our launch party with Urbane Media on Thursday, November 21 from 6 to 8pm.

Attention 2 Women 4 Wheels Fans! We've got some exciting news!!!

Put the kickstand down. Grab your seat on the bus. 2 Women 4 Wheels has exciting news to share! After almost three years of “walking and rolling” in the metro-Detroit area, we are happy to partner with Urbane Media to share our “real world” adventures in biking and busing. What does it mean? With the additional support, we will be able to share more adventures in a pretty regular way by providing new blog posts every few days instead of every few weeks. It doesn’t stop there, either. You will also see more cross-postings from our blog and Urbane Media’s blog PLUS there’s going to be a pretty kick ass launch party on Thursday, November 21 (stay tuned for more details). Keep your eyes open for #transitkardashians, as it might become a new and appropriate hash tag. HAHA!

Cheers!

On a more serious note, we've never been more excited to write about transit than now. As you know, this is a critical time for our region as the “Regional Transit Authority (RTA)” begins to take shape. Unfortunately, you also know the evolution of public transportation.is not one of the Motor City’s finest moments. Keeping our eyes and ears wide open will be important if this is to be the time in our region’s history that we see change. Fortunately, 2 Women 4 Wheels has representation on the RTA’s Citizen Advisory Council (shout out to Julie!). In the next few months, we will do our best to keep you informed on what’s happening and what you can do to support this effort.

We also hope to inspire you to take a transit adventure of your own! While it’s important to have an RTA, we also need to see improvements to the service. However, we won’t see improvements until demand for public transit increases. That means we need you to ride the bus. And before you tell yourself it’s too hard, check out some of our previous blog posts. Taking the bus and riding your bike can be fun! In fact, one of the reasons we started riding the bus was to enjoy our happy hours together without the worry of driving (some of those drink specials are too good to pass up!). Stay tuned for some 2 Women 4 Wheels organized bus pub crawls, scavenger hunts, and much more!  We’re going to do our best to show how much fun you can have!