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A ballot measure this month could further boost revitalization of downtown, student transportation services


WRITTEN BY JULIE METEA


ell past municipal bank- ruptcy and recession years, Detroit is making significant progress in its


recovery, alongside automotive OEMs and suppliers that also overcame financial woes to refuel the Motor City with jobs, innova- tion and community partnership. Downtown is buzzing with new business booming and old neighborhoods gentrify- ing. Construction is fully underway on more housing units, a brand new hockey stadium and the M1 rail trolley that will run a few miles up historic Woodward Avenue, the country’s first concrete roadway that con- nects urban and suburban neighborhoods. Despite putting the nation on wheels,


Detroit has the highest cost of vehicle own- ership when figuring in taxes, insurance and fuel. As a result, 25 percent of the city’s households don’t own a vehicle. Without public transportation on the scale of New York, Chicago or San Francisco, Detroit also is the only major urban area without


a transit network that effectively connects residents with employers and schools. “One of the worst things the city ever did was cut its bus service because it cut people off from their ability to get to a job,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a press release announcing the expansion of city bus routes by the new year. Separately, the Regional Transit Author-


ity of Southeastern Michigan could snag funding for a $4.6 billion mass transit system, if voters approve a property tax hike on the Nov. 8 ballot. While facing opposition, the proposal promotes a mas- ter plan to create a 21st century transpor- tation ecosystem with rapid buses and rail lines spanning across four counties. Amid all these developments, yellow bus transportation in Detroit is the farthest along in mobilizing the city’s youth.


MOVING AND SHAKING Te Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) sold its bus fleet and


14School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2016


fully outsourced transportation in 2010, shortly after Michigan displaced the elected Detroit School Board with an emergency manager to address academic issues and the district’s $700-million deficit. By day one of the 2016-17 academic year, the state’s largest education system received a contro- versial $617-million state-aid package to re- form education for about 47,000 students attending 100 facilities. “We’ve weathered the storm of financial


pressures, school closures and changing edu- cational mandates. Our greatest achievement comes everyday when we can pickup students on time and deliver them safely to their des- tination,” said Brian Flaggs, general manager at ABC Student Transportation, one of the district’s longest running bus contractors. Te privatization of the Detroit’s public school system spawned opportunity for regional transportation businesses, which in turn sparked entrepreneurship, job creation and collaboration with leading automotive companies within close proximity.


CELEBRATING25YEARS


ILLUSTRATION BY SEAN GALLAGHER


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