Despite a huge effort from many supporters, the Regional Transit funding ballot measure lost with 911,000 no votes outweighing the 894,000 yes votes by 50.5% to 49.5%. (details pasted below)
- Detroit voters – 64.5% yes
- Washtenaw – 56.2% yes
- Oakland – 49.9% yes
- Outer Wayne – 46.9% yes
- Macomb Co. – 39.9% yes
I am extraordinarily proud of the effort we undertook. The RTA crafted a great plan that would have benefited so many people. Hundreds of organizations and businesses came together to speak about on the need for reliable regional transit. And tons of passionate volunteers and activists got involved and spread the Vote Yes message. A sincere and deep thank you to each and everyone one of you!
Yes ultimately, our efforts proved to not be enough, especially as our calls for compassion and bringing the region together were drowned out in an election of fear and anger at the “other.”
Many people are asking what’s next. The short answer is, there was no Plan B in place. We invested everything in winning this. So as we lick our wounds and evaluate what happened, we will discuss and decide what happens next.
The RTA is committed to continue to work to improve coordination between transit providers, as they explore other ways to fill transit gaps and improve the system.
The broad community of supporters will not disappear either. Over the coming weeks and months, we will work together to figure out how we can best support improved transit moving forward.
And we need you to be part of that discussion.
The effort for more and better transit is far from over. Stay tuned for our next chapter.
Yes % | Yes Votes | No Votes | Total Votes on RTA measure | |
Detroit | 64.5% | 144,474 | 78,503 | 222,977 |
Outer Wayne | 46.9% | 215,036 | 243,087 | 458,123 |
Oakland | 49.9% | 292,401 | 293,510 | 585,911 |
Macomb | 39.9% | 148,161 | 222,807 | 370,968 |
Washtenaw | 56.2% | 94,274 | 73,632 | 167,906 |
total | 49.52% | 894,346 | 911,539 | 1,805,885 |