Farmington

Farmington opts out of SMART

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

FARMINGTON — The City Council voted 3-1 Jan. 17 to part ways with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation and instead spend the next year putting in place a replacement public transportation system for residents.

The City Council’s vote to opt out of SMART means that residents will not vote on a SMART millage renewal later this year. The millage Farmington voters approved approximately 3-to-1 in 2010 — 0.59 mill that raises about $200,000, counting only Farmington tax dollars — lasts through the end of November, according to Oakland County ombudsman Steven M.Brown, so service will continue for 10 more months.

Come December 2012, something will need to take SMART’s place, and those council members who voted to opt out expressed optimism that they can put something together.

“We made a tough decision tonight. It would have been very easy for this council to say yes to SMART, and we wouldn’t have piled more work on our staff and on our city manager and our City Council to make some decisions going forward,” said Councilman Greg Cowley.

“We have a lot of work to do. We have a year to get it done. I’m hopeful that we can come up with and improve the service delivery that we have to the elderly and the disadvantaged. I’m not sure I have a solution to the long-haul folks that are going to be inconvenienced, but you know what? SMART was prepared to inconvenience almost all of them,” said Cowley, referring to route cuts and a convoluted system.

“I’m sure with my council members we will come up with a viable solution,” said Councilwoman JoAnne McShane. “I, too, invite the public to contact us. I want … all of the folks that were here tonight to be part of the solution and help us come to a good agreement on a system that we can all embrace.”

Route cuts in December put the council on a path toward breaking from SMART. Council members felt that SMART had not lived up to its promises.

Representatives from SMART and people who support or rely upon its bus service filled the roughly 50 seats in the council chamber Jan. 17 and tried to convince the council to keep Farmington in the system.

“The thing that’s affected us the most is, we’ve seen a 25 percent decrease in our operating millage, which is a main funding source for SMART. That’s nothing new. I think every city has had to struggle with that issue. We’ve become leaner and more efficient. We’ve made the commitment to keep as much service on the street as we possibly could, so we haven’t had any route cuts until just recently,” said Jim Fetzer, SMART’s deputy general manager of operations.

SMART has had to reduce service by 22 percent, he said.

“We had to target our most inefficient routes, and one of those I know was a route that serves this community, the 385,” said Fetzer.

He said the now-defunct 385 had about three riders per trip.

That left Farmington with the 805 and 330 routes. Fetzer said the 330 had 10,455 boardings and 13,770 disembarkations at Farmington stops in 2011, while the 805 had 15,300 boardings and 10,965 disembarkations.

“It’s very important to SMART that you participate and you join us in a regional system,” said Fetzer.

With council poised to drop out, Fetzer and Brown brought a new proposal forward at the Jan. 17 meeting.

“With this type of service, we propose three vehicles that are 14-passenger capacity that could do door-to-door service — pick people up at their homes or their business and take them to a business or home, or take them to the fixed-route bus. Therefore, you really have access for everyone in Farmington and Farmington Hills. They have access, truly, to mass transit,” said Fetzer.

The proposed fare was $2, or $1 for people with disabilities. The service would operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Fetzer said they would pick up people within an hour of a call, and the service could start next month.

“Not a perfect system, but I thought it was a vast improvement over the services that we had prior to the route cuts in December,” said Mayor Pro Tem Bill Galvin, who voted against opting out.

Galvin said the pressure City Council put on SMART yielded results, and he didn’t mind the 11th-hour timing of the new offer.

Others did.

“I guess I’m really disappointed that we have an 11th-hour, put-in-a-corner solution. We’ve had two years to work on this, and you never came to us and said, hey, what can we work on together to make this work better for you and to help us, because we have a financial crisis,” McShane said.

Farmington resident Susan Lightner said that she relied on busing during her college days. She said that more important than riders living in Farmington is that people come into Farmington to patronize businesses.

“Thirdly, the vote has been very, very supportive of SMART over the last several elections, and I very much, as a voter, want the opportunity to say yes or no whether or not we continue this service and not have my City Council make that decision for me,” said Lightner.

Farmington’s City Council might ask voters for a millage for its own transportation system, now that it has left SMART.

Before the opt-out vote, City Council members sought assurance that SMART would keep its 11th-hour promises if they decided to stay in the system. Some council members said they wanted the proposed 14-passenger vehicles to reach Providence Park Hospital and 12 Oaks Mall — destinations in Novi, an opted-out community.

“If we go the other direction to Novi or other opt-out communities, I have to get board approval, of course. But we can talk to staff about the needs there,” said Fetzer.

McShane motioned to table the matter and request a letter that puts the three-vehicle service in writing, as well as assurance that the upgrade would deliver people to such places as 12 Oaks and Providence Park, but it died with no support.

Councilwoman Kristin Kuiken moved to adopt a resolution to opt out of SMART, and the 3-1 vote followed. Mayor Tom Buck was not present, but previously said he favored opting out.

Fetzer and Brown said that Farmington will lose its $11,438 in community credits from SMART when the millage expires, though it will still receive its $10,184 in municipal credits from the state. The city will lose access to vehicles through SMART’s 5307 program and the fixed routes next year.

Asked if SMART would make a push to change minds, Fetzer said he would send a letter outlining McShane’s requests.

The Farmington Hills City Council had SMART on the agenda for its Jan. 23 meeting.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer David Wallace at dwallace@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1053.