Michigan RTA slates meetings on Detroit transit plan

The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) of Southeast Michigan has scheduled a series of meetings to gather feedback on a master plan that calls for transit expansions in the Detroit area.

The $4.6 billion plan would establish commuter-rail service between Detroit and Ann Arbor, with stops in Ypsilanti, Wayne and Dearborn. To carry out the plan, RTA will ask voters to consider a "1.2-mill property tax increase" in November, according to the plan's executive summary.

The agency will hold meetings throughout this month in Macomb, Washtenaw, Oakland and Wayne counties.

"Southeast Michigan is the only major urban area in the country without a viable, coordinated public transit system," said RTA Chairman Paul Hillegonds in a press release. "If we are going to be competitive in a (modern) global economy, developing a transit system that meets the needs of a changing world is absolutely essential."