The new Regional Transit Authority that aims to link Washtenaw County with Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, now has a CEO. The RTA board met Wednesday in Ann Arbor. As WEMU's Andrew Cluley reports, the board approved a contract with the current CEO of SMART, John Hertel.
The first CEO of the new Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan hopes the authority will expand on what is being done in the Ann Arbor area, when it comes to public transportation. ' The RTA board met in Ann Arbor Wednesday and approved a contract for John Hertel to serve as CEO. Hertel comes to the RTA from the The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) system, where he also served as CEO.
Hertel says a lot of work needs to be done on public transportation in the region. Hertel says Southeast Michigan taxpayers put in about 26 cents for every dollar taxpayers in most other parts of the country pay for public transportation. He says to realistically connect Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties with effective public transportation, some form of regional tax will be needed.
