By Michigan Chronicle Editorial Board
When most people think about public transportation, they picture the people riding the bus. But the upcoming SMART regional transit millage goes beyond just the buses. The millage comes down to the people our communities depend on every day to keep hospitals staffed, restaurants open, stores operating, and neighborhoods functioning.
On the August ballot, Wayne County voters will decide whether to renew and expand funding for public transportation through a countywide transit millage. Rather than deciding on a community-by-community basis whether to participate in the SMART bus system, the initiative on the Wayne County ballot asks whether the county should join Macomb and Oakland with their “all-in” approach, meaning every community becomes part of the system. In the past, each Wayne County municipality had the ability to opt out of paying into the regional transit system.
The proposal would levy 0.9831 mills, which equals 98 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value for 10 years. For a home with a taxable value of approximately $100,000, that works out to about $8 per month. The measure is projected to generate about $57.6 million in its first year, supporting SMART, DDOT and other community transit providers while expanding service throughout Wayne County.
Those numbers matter because they tell an important story. Less than a dollar per $1,000 of taxable value creates a transportation network that thousands of Wayne County residents rely on every single day.
Many of those riders are not traveling for recreation. They are heading to early morning hospital shifts, late-night restaurant jobs, retail stores, warehouses, manufacturing plants, and office buildings. They are home health aides caring for seniors. They are seniors heading to and from critical appointments. They are nursing assistants, custodians, childcare workers, and grocery clerks. They are students pursuing education and veterans traveling to appointments. They are people whose work allows the rest of society to function.
Public transit is also increasingly important for residents who own cars but cannot always afford to use them. Michigan families continue to face some of the nation’s highest auto insurance costs, along with rising expenses for fuel, maintenance, and repairs. For households squeezed by those costs, reliable transit provides another way to reach work, medical appointments and essential services without every trip depending on a personal vehicle.
The proposed funding is also designed to strengthen the region’s connectivity. Wayne County’s transit system has long contained service gaps created by communities that previously opted out of SMART. If approved, the countywide millage would support new routes, route extensions, and expanded on-demand service over the next several years, creating more seamless connections between neighborhoods, employment centers, healthcare facilities and educational institutions.
The benefits extend beyond those who regularly ride the bus.
Every employee who can reliably reach work helps an employer maintain staffing. Every patient whose healthcare worker arrives on time benefits from dependable transportation. Every senior or person with a disability who can access appointments independently preserves a measure of dignity and stability. Every student who can reach class has greater opportunity to succeed.
Transit is part of the infrastructure that supports daily life. Roads connect drivers. Sidewalks connect pedestrians. Public transportation connects people whose jobs, health and opportunities depend on mobility.
SMART currently serves a regional network spanning approximately 1,742 square miles, reaching 2.8 million residents through dozens of fixed routes and flex service. The proposed countywide investment would help fill remaining mobility gaps and improve access to major employment corridors, healthcare providers, and educational destinations that thousands of residents travel to every day.
At its core, this vote is about recognizing that transportation is a community asset that extends well beyond individual concern. The workers who prepare our meals, care for our loved ones, stock our shelves, and keep our economy moving deserve reliable ways to get where they need to be.
For many Wayne County residents, the value of this millage will not be measured by whether they personally board a SMART bus. It will be measured by whether the people they depend on every day are able to show up.
For those reasons, Michigan Chronicle proudly supports the Wayne County transit millage and encourages you to vote in support of it on the Aug. 4 ballot.
