FTA to Detroit: Regional authority desired
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefFederal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff is urging the Detroit metropolitan area to create a regional transportation authority in the not-too-distant future, in part to help shepherd the development and growth of Detroit’s first light rail transit line.
“Many people have viewed an RTA as the ideal operator for the system,” Rogoff said, noting the Detroit Department of Transportation might not be the best vehicle for advancing rail transit, adding that such an organization “has to happen for the project to achieve its broader utility.”
DDOT and private-sector interests are working to implement a $528 million LRT line along Woodward Avenue to Eight Mile Road, with $318 million in federal funds anticipated for the project.
FTA’s request could mean Detroit city officials, along with counterparts in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, would join forces to form a regional authority, something that has eluded the region itself for decades.
