Public Comment on Proposed Detroit-Ann Arbor Commuter Express Bus

Summary

The proposed plan is good, and the region has been waiting for such a service for many years. However, by limiting stops in Washtenaw County to Ann Arbor, it overlooks demographic factors that could raise serious environmental justice issues.
Specifically, the goal of providing rapid service between the business and population centers of Ann Arbor and Detroit, while laudable in itself, fails to provide much needed access to jobs and opportunity to the eastern part of Washtenaw County: the region within Washtenaw County with the lowest Opportunity Index, the highest percentage of individuals below the poverty level, the highest percent of the workforce unemployed, and the lowest number of jobs accessible within 30 minutes by fixed route transit. As often happens, whether intentionally or not, there is service for the fortunate, but not for the less-fortunate.

Express Bus Proposal

The proposal is outlined online at https://rtamichigan.org/introducing-d2a2/ with details in the FAQ at https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.44/tng.f93.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/D2A2_FAQ_updates.pdf.
In the FAQ, under the heading “Bus Stop Information”:

Q. Where are the bus stops located?
A. In Ann Arbor, the bus stop is located on 4th Ave at William St. In Detroit, the bus stop will be located at Grand Circus Park, a short walk to DDOT, SMART, PeopleMover, and QLine stops.
Q. Where can I park? How much is parking?
A. We will not be providing parking; however, there are parking options in downtown Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Several members of the public commented in the Public Meeting in Ann Arbor on January 8 that a stop at the Central Campus Transit Terminal would be a great advantage. I concur. I will pass over the fact that while these stops give good access to jobs, they give poor access to residents in general, which is likely to negatively impact ridership.

Trip Time

The limited number of stops has been explained as an effort to decrease trip time between Detroit and Ann Arbor. Not only does it limit the time each bus spends diverting and stopping to pick up riders, but it allows flexibility in the routes between end-points. This is an important factor given congestion and frequent highway closures due to crashes. However, I believe trip time is secondary to the accessibility of the service to residents in general, and specifically to those for whom public transportation to jobs is critical.
As described in the FAQ, the service is designed primarily for access to connecting local bus services in Detroit and Ann Arbor. Parking is not provided, and available parking facilities would be costly to use on a daily basis. It is easy to foresee that residents who can’t afford to park every day in downtown Ann Arbor or Detroit will find it impractical as well as time consuming to take a local bus from their residence to the express bus, and a third bus from either Grand Circus Park or the Blake Transit Center to their destination.
However, this is especially true for the residents of eastern Washtenaw County. While Ann Arbor residents can take AAATA bus to the express bus stop in 15 to 20 minutes, those in the eastern part of the county leaving from the Ypsilanti Transit Center would need 35 to 45 minutes to reach the express. Thus, Ann Arbor residents can get from their homes to Detroit by bus in roughly 75 or 80 minutes, but those who leave from downtown Ypsilanti face an impractical 95 to 105 minute journey. This time increases significantly if the eastern county resident must first take another bus to get to the Ypsilanti Transit Center.
This could easily be remedied by an express stop at I-94 and Huron Avenue in Ypsilanti near the MDOT ride-sharing parking lot.
The time-cost of adding this stop would be no more than a five minute increase in the express trip time and a slight reduction in route options (M-14 would not be practical, though US-12 to I-275 and I-96 would be an option if I-94 is congested or closed east of Ypsilanti.)

Economic Reality

The income and opportunity disparity between Ann Arbor and the eastern part of Washtenaw County has been widely documented. Reference these recent studies:

• County studies
  
  • Disparities in Access to Opportunity (2017) (https://www.washtenaw.org/DocumentCenter/View/2340/Disparities-in-Access-to-Opportunities-PDF?bidId=)
    
  • Housing Affordability and Economic Equity - Analysis Washtenaw County, Michigan (https://www.washtenaw.org/DocumentCenter/View/2313/Housing-Affordability-and-Economic-Equity-Analysis-PDF)
    
• Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan for Washtenaw County. Updated September 2018. Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (2018) (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/524e0929e4b093015db69c07/t/5be087764ae237a3b86fa62e/1541441419576/2018+Coordinated+Plan+Reduced.pdf)
• Bloomfield Hill’s Median Income Ranks Top in Southeastern Michigan. June 13, 2017 by Drawing Detroit. Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies. (http://www.drawingdetroit.com/bloomfield-hills-median-income-ranks-top-in-southeastern-michigan/)

These disparities, and the importance of better regional public transportation are best visualized with maps. The following are displayed below:

1. Washtenaw Opportunity and Change Index
   
2. Total Jobs Accessible within 30 Minutes by Fixed Route Transit
   
3. Percent of Individuals Below Poverty Level
   
4. Percent of Workforce that is Unemployed
   
5. Median Household Income in Southeast Michigan in 2015
   

1. Washtenaw Opportunity and Change Index. Express bus stops in an area surrounded by “High” and “Very High” Opportunity Index. The stop is distant from the large area of “Low” and “Very Low” opportunity along the eastern edge of the county. Residents of these low opportunity areas are often dependent on public transportation.
   From “Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan for Washtenaw County. Updated September 2018. Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (2018)”
   
   
2. Total Jobs Accessible within 30 Minutes by Fixed Route Transit. Express bus stop is in an area (orange color) within 30 minutes of may thousands of jobs (which is appropriate) but not in residential areas to the east with relatively few nearby jobs (green), which is regrettable.
   From “Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan for Washtenaw County. Updated September 2018. Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (2018)”
   
   
3. Percent of Individuals Below Poverty Level. The express bus stop in Ann Arbor is near several high poverty zones, which is fortunate. However, these areas provide housing primarily for University of Michigan students who, though technically impoverished, are by no means without opportunity. To the east, the areas of poverty provide housing primarily for racial minorities. From “Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan for Washtenaw County. Updated September 2018. Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (2018)”
   
   
   
   
4. Percent of Workforce that is Unemployed. Again, the express bus stops in the University of Michigan area, where many students are “unemployed” but not lacking in opportunity. In contrast, areas in the eastern part of the county are home to many former manufacturing workers, unemployed due to the closure several major plants in the Ypsilanti area since 2000.
   From “Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan for Washtenaw County. Updated September 2018. Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (2018)”
   
   
   
   
5. Median Household Income in Southeast Michigan in 2015. Here it becomes clear that the express bus stop is located in a relatively high income area, but in the interest of trip speed it runs through low income areas without stopping. From “Bloomfield Hill’s Median Income Ranks Top in Southeastern Michigan. June 13, 2017” by Drawing Detroit. Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies.