It was an exciting year for the TRU community, from climate plans and ARPA funds to big fights and big wins in ballot campaigns. Here’s a recap of some of the highlights.
Transit WIN in Michigan’s Climate Plan!
Because we can’t solve the climate crisis without it, TRU fought to get transit included in Michigan’s new Climate Plan – and won!
Thanks to comments, meetings, and advocacy of TRU and our partners, members, and supporters, the final MI Healthy Climate Plan includes: “Increase Public Transit: Increase access to clean transportation options – including public transit – by 15% each year.” Next year we’ll work to get it fully implemented!
Special thanks to partners including Ecology Center, Michigan Environmental Council, and Detroit Greenways Alliance and funders United Way of Southeast Michigan, Forth, and the Sally Mead Hands Foundation!
Winning and Prioritizing Transit Funding for Detroit
Thanks to your support and nationwide advocacy, the American Rescue Plan Act provided much-needed funding to restore and improve public transit.
TRU helped the City of Detroit decide how to best invest the $51 million it received for transit. Fifty people joined our talk with DDOT Director Oglesby, sharing ideas, , support, and suggestions, most of which were incorporated into DDOT’s investment priorities and should be built soon.
It’s been great to work with partners like Detroit People’s Platform and Motor City Freedom Riders to fight for DDOT improvements.
Over 50 Presentations and Events Regionwide!
When people take time to learn about public transit, most tend to support it. That’s why TRU staff and volunteers crisscrossed the region talking transit at 38 presentations and at 15 events including:
- Sterling Heights City Council,
- UAW Retirees,
- Leadership Macomb,
- North Oakland Democrats,
- Clinton Township Senior Center
- Waterford Peacefest
- Farmington Founders Fest
- Arts, Beats, & Eats; and
- Arts & Apples in Rochester.
We’d be happy to come talk transit with your community group too!
Transit Town Halls in Oakland, Macomb, and Virtually
To elevate community conversation about transit in the run up to the election, TRU hosted six educational forums on the need for and value of public transit.
Special thanks to our amazing partners who made these events possible:
- Henry Ford Health,
- Macomb Community College,
- Disability Network of Eastern Michigan,
- the City of Pontiac,
- Oakland Forward, and
- Beaumont.
Successfully Got Countywide Transit on the Ballot!
The first battle to expand transit throughout Oakland County was convincing the Commission to put it on the countywide ballot, despite loud anti-tax opposition.
We mobilized more than 700 emails and petition signers, plus 45 in-person public comments at Commission meetings from diverse voices throughout the county – and succeeded in getting it on the ballot – with bi-partisan support!
We enormously appreciate everyone who helped make it happen, including partners United Way, Rochester Riders, Turn Oakland County Green, and Oakland Forward. We especially appreciate Oakland County Commission Chairman Dave Woodward who introduced and advanced the resolution and all the Commissioners who supported it!
Expanding Our Staff to Do More Transit Advocacy!
With support from grants and generous members, we expanded our staff to be able to tackle so much more important transit work.
- Regional transit historian and organizer Joel Batterman,
- Ann Arbor Transit community engagement specialist Deb Freer,
- Rochester activist Thomas Yazbeck, and
- MSW intern Jenn Muscat joined this year!
We’re lucky to have such a passionate hardworking team!
Volunteers and Partners Talked with Thousands of Voters!
It definitely takes an army to win on transit. We were so excited to have over 50 people volunteer with TRU to have more than 3,500 conversations with voters regionwide.
Dedicated partner organizations greatly expanded the campaign’s reach, especially:
• Oakland Forward,
• Clean Water Action,
• Fund Mi Future, and others,
Together we knocked 145,000 doors, sent 125,000 texts, made 3,500 calls, and shared more than 125,000 flyers with voters throughout the region. Incredible work, team!!
Social Media Outreach to More than 200,000 People
To reach millions of voters across all of Oakland and Macomb Counties, we expanded our reach on social media with:
• Instagram Q&As,
• Bus selfie contests and videos,
• Paid ads to targeted Facebook audiences,
• Partner posts, and much more.
In all, we reached over 200,000 people and got our messages seen nearly half a million times!!
Historic Win: Countywide Transit in Oakland County!
Thanks to all of that work and much more, we won!!
In the end 57% of Oakland County voters supported the 10-year countywide transit millage.
This majority support was not only in long-standing SMART areas but in expansion areas including:
- Novi,
- Rochester Hills,
- Bloomfield Hills,
- Wixom, and
- Orion Township.
As we’ve long said, the people of Oakland County clearly support providing mobility for all!
Record Transit Support Throughout Macomb County!
Despite voter opposition in 2016 and an extremely narrow renewal of the SMART millage in 2018, we knew people in Macomb County support transit. We just needed to remind people why it matters.
With an active campaign of presentations, events, mailings, social media, and more, more than 65% of Macomb County voters approved their County Transit millage, including majorities in every single municipality!
Thank you to everyone who made this progress possible!
It’s been an amazing year, thanks to all the generous members and hardworking volunteers, staff, and partners who made it possible.
We’ve got even bigger plans for 2023! Having demonstrated that transit advocacy works, we’re taking it to Lansing to fight for greater state investment in affordable sustainable mobility. And we’re working locally to stop the crisis of no-show buses by ensuring bus drivers earn competitive wages for their vital work.
With continued support, we’ll achieve even more transit progress so everyone can get where they need to go!