Auburn Hills wants to leave SMART bus system — but judge's ruling becomes major hurdle

Detroit Free Press

A judge in Oakland County has denied an effort by the city of Auburn Hills to force the entity that oversees the SMART bus millage to hold a meeting and allow the city to effectively withdraw from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Daniel O'Brien's order denying the city's request appears to put up a major hurdle in the city's attempt to remove itself from the Oakland County Public Transportation Authority, or OCPTA, which oversees the millage that funds the SMART bus system in the county.

In the city's complaint in court, which was filed in April, the city's attorney argued that if the court did not compel OCPTA to hold a meeting by early May and allow the city to withdraw from the authority then the city would not be able to meet the deadlines that would allow it to proceed with its plans.

The city had intended to drop SMART and then rely on a locally administered transit service limited to senior citizens and disabled adults for public transportation. In order to do that, however, the city intended to ask Auburn Hills voters to approve a millage for the local service in August, and OCPTA would have needed to hold its meeting in early May, according to the complaint, which noted a limited window this year under state law for the city to effectively opt out of SMART.

More:SMART bus system leader pledges new direction; millage renewal to be sought in November

Auburn Hills Mayor Kevin McDaniel said the council has not yet been able to meet to discuss the judge's order, but he indicated it's a top priority.

In an email response Tuesday to questions, such as whether the city will appeal the order or take the issue to voters, McDaniel said that "we are disappointed with the judge’s decision, and we are considering all our options."

Marie Donigan, the chair of OCPTA, said the judge's order, dated April 28, will effectively keep things as they are.

"It just means that this is status quo. Nothing changed. They're still getting transit service in Auburn Hills," she said. "People are still getting to school and getting to work."

Donigan said the judge's order is a good thing because it maintains necessary stability.

"There's a procedure put in place for a reason, so there's not just random chaos in the system. People have to be able to rely on it. Transit service doesn’t switch on a dime," she said.

Donigan had previously said the city missed its opportunity to have the issue considered because OCPTA meets infrequently and that the issue would have needed to have been addressed at a meeting held in February. She also said she wasn't inclined to give the city council what it was asking for.

More:Some people think of cheese when they think of southeast Michigan's public transportation

More:Funding better bus service in Detroit would mean access to thousands of jobs, group says

More:Auburn Hills council votes to drop SMART bus service

"I don’t know why I would take service away. ... You need stability in your transit service, you can’t be having communities opt in and opting out,” Donigan said previously. “It’s hard enough having this Swiss cheese service we have right now. ... I’m just not interested in taking away transit service.”

McDaniel previously told the Free Press the council expects OCPTA to honor its wishes on the transit issue. He also defended the council's decision to opt out of SMART.

“First and foremost, considering opting out of SMART is not because Auburn Hills is anti-regional transit. To the contrary, we are interested in transit, but transit that best serves the needs of our community and directs our financial resources to that end,” McDaniel said for an article in March.

In its complaint, the city said it had been considering withdrawing from SMART for several years, citing "declining ridership, limited service points, broken down vehicles" and other issues and instead wants to fund a city transportation system. Critics, however, have noted that the city's proposed system would only serve some city residents, wouldn't provide the kinds of transit connections SMART offers and would be more limited in its hours of operation.

When Auburn Hills City Council voted in February to effectively opt out of SMART, it sparked consternation among transit riders and activists in the region. Metro Detroit's transit infrastructure has long struggled with funding seen as inadequate and a framework that allows large swaths of metro Detroit to remain outside the system.

The approach has been compared unfavorably to Swiss cheese.

The attention generated by the Auburn Hills situation has led to more discussions about a possible shift to include all of Oakland County in the SMART system, but that would take action by the county commission.

SMART is expected to seek a renewal of its own millage on the November ballot. The current amount is just under 1 mill. Auburn Hills had planned to ask voters to fund a .5-mill levy for its local system.

When asked to comment on Judge O'Brien's order, SMART provided a statement from General Manager Dwight Ferrell:

“SMART has always been committed to working with every community we serve, including Auburn Hills. We will continue those efforts and ensure everyone has access to transit to get to jobs, doctor appointments, school, shopping and entertainment venues in and around Auburn Hills and throughout the region.”

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.