SMART aims to improve existing service

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation is looking to improve service on its routes.

At the Clinton Township Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 9, marketing consultant Janai Williams Smith and SMART Vice President of Planning and Innovation Harmony Lloyd gave a presentation to inform the board and public about the proposed changes. The two laid out two scenarios for community members to give input on. The first scenario would provide increased frequency, and the second would increase coverage.

The first scenario would increase reliability and provide more service on the weekends, according to SMART’s presentation. Improvements outlined in the presentation include five “fast” routes, 11 routes every 30 minutes and 25 routes every 60 minutes. The scenario offers five new routes and four new “flex zones” for customers. Flex zones are areas where roundtrip pickups are possible with a separate, smaller bus for things like doctor’s appointments.

“People want the service to get them there quickly, they want to know when it’s coming and they want it to operate more hours and more days of the week than maybe it does currently,” Smith said.

The second scenario offers up five “fast” routes, three routes every 30 minutes and 37 routes every 60 minutes. The 60-minute routes would have expanded hours, including weekends. The presentation states that the scenario would make schedules more predictable. It would add 11 new routes and five new flex zones.

“This is looking at areas that are underserved or completely unserved by transit,” Smith said during the presentation.

Smith said the process will include community input about what works in each scenario. SMART will then create a hybrid proposal that is expected to be finalized by spring 2025.

The changes are part of the SMARTer Mobility Program. The program, which started in 2023, studies possible improvements to the service. This was, in part, spurred by Oakland County’s increased SMART millage.

Clinton Township Clerk Kim Meltzer questioned if there would be any impact from the proposed changes for Clinton Township residents. She also asked if the residents would be footing the bill for the changes even if they wouldn’t benefit.

“We’re not asking for an increase or anything like that,” Lloyd said. “This is, as Janai mentioned, financially constrained. We are planning these changes to operate within the current funds that we have and what we have projected for budgets in coming years.”

Lloyd went on to explain that this is why there aren’t any major changes, just improvements to routes.

“You hear around here about how metro Detroit has a terrible public transit system,” Lloyd said. “We’re really working hard. This is about trying to make those changes within the reality of our budget, so people do feel like they do have an effective system they can use.”

At the meeting, resident Sam Buschell questioned whether SMART works with the Macomb County Department of Roads to make sure bus stops are safe and accessible to residents. He mentioned that a stop near 15 Mile and Kelly roads is especially treacherous.

Lloyd said that SMART is aiming to do a bus stop inventory in the future to assess problematic stops. She said the study will look at 8,000 stops and check to see if they make sense where they’re located. If they don’t, they’ll be removed. She estimated the project will take three to five years and the work will be done hand in hand with municipalities.

Township Treasurer Paul Gieleghem encouraged residents to visit SMART’s website and attend future meetings to “mold” any future plans for the service.

“The focus of this is to get public input,” Gieleghem said.

The board unanimously approved receiving and filing the presentation.

More information about future meetings and contact information can be found at smarter-mobility.org.