RTA, Citizens Advisory Committee

Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan

Transportation

Monday, Feb. 27, 2023
5:00 p.m. EST

Remote

Join meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82203539341

Agenda and documents can be found here, by clicking the + sign next to “Citizens Advisory Committee”: https://rtamichigan.org/2023-Meetings/

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team

Note-taking by Joann Ingoglia

RTA gets $1.1M grant to develop mobility wallet for riders of DDOT, SMART, MoGo bikes & scooters in 1-year pilot program.

View notes

Live reporting by Dan Ignacio

RTA gets $1.1M grant to develop mobility wallet for riders of DDOT, SMART, MoGo bikes & scooters in 1-year pilot program.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan

Hello, hello! At 5 p.m. I’ll live-tweet the @RTAmichigan Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting for #DETdocumenters. 🧵

@DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @media_outlier @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit.

04:04 PM Feb 27, 2023 CST

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 2/30

Join this meeting online or by phone: rtamichigan.org/2023-Meetings/

We’ll have more notes, recordings and archived materials: detroit.documenters.org/assignments/rt…

📎 Today’s meeting notice: rtamichigan.org/2023-Meetings/ https://t.co/g2ytIIQgiJ

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 3/30

⏮ The last CAC meeting we covered — Madison Ganzak took notes: rtamichigan.org/2023-Meetings/

Meg live-tweeted: twitter.com/megs818/status…

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 4/30

❓ The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) oversees and proposes improvements to public transit in the counties of Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw. It works with DDOT, @SMART_movesus, @CatchTheRide and other transit providers.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 5/30

Your CAC rtamichigan.org/about/committe…

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 6/30

🚩 Need image descriptions? Contact me and I’ll provide them to you.

Something inaccurate? Email documenters@outliermedia.org with the subject “Correction Request.” I’ll add corrections at the end.

See you now!

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 7/30

⌚️ At 5:03 p.m., the southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan Citizens Advisory Committee meeting begins! Eric Dryer calls the meeting to order. https://t.co/eSZzc5lNhl

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 8/30

👤 Roll call! Dryer says there isn’t a quorum, so the committee cannot vote on any matters.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 9/30

The committee approves this meeting’s agenda and the previous meeting’s minutes.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 10/30

Huh, they just approved some executive appointments despite not having a quorum. I guess the quorum that Dryer said they don’t have isn’t needed for votes. …

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 11/30

I did not see any agenda on the RTA website, and the committee did not name the appointees out loud, so I don’t know who they are.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 12/30

John Waterman says a certain executive team will meet soon. Now we proceed to an “RTA overview” report presented by Ben Stupka. https://t.co/rs62Z3Xlk0

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 13/30

Stupka says a 5310 call for projects will be released next week. Some updates on the ridership of the D2A2 intercity bus: 5,000 riders in October, dipped in November and December and an uptick in January. Stupka says a recent RTA survey got a “really good response rate.”

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 14/30

My laptop crashed! 😵 First time that happened while documenting, but it was bound to happen.

Re-joining the meeting now…

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 15/30

The last thing I caught: Stupka says another intercity bus route (perhaps the route to Detroit Metro Airport?) will hopefully launch in January 2024 before that year’s NFL Draft, to be held in Detroit.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 16/30

The committee let me back into the meeting pretty quickly. As I was coming back, folks were talking about the proposed Amtrak transit center in New Center.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 17/30

Now they’re talking about a “transit wallet” pilot, which sounds like new electronic payment technology. RTA is targeting job-seekers with this pilot, and is partnering with agencies like Detroit at Work.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 18/30

Stupka says DDOT and SMART have switched providers for their Dart fare passes from online parking payment provider Passport to a more specialized provider, Token Transit.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 19/30

💼 At 5:42 p.m., the committee proceeds to other business.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 20/30

No one brings up any matters for other business.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 21/30

John Waterman says CAC’s next meeting will be April 24.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 22/30

⏱ At 5:44 p.m., the meeting is adjourned! I will try to cover what I missed using a backup recording of the meeting, stay tuned…

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 23/30

But for now, that’s my live coverage of this RTA Citizens Advisory Committee meeting. I’ll be back shortly!

For more local meeting coverage, check out Documenters.org. documenters.org

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 24/30

Updates will definitely follow below, and perhaps some corrections too. See you in about 30 minutes.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 25/30

⏪ Here we go again! Here are more notes from today’s RTA Citizens Advisory Committee meeting. For the sake of simplicity — and because my live coverage wasn’t as good as I wanted — I’ll start from the very beginning of the meeting.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 26/30

⏪ ⌚️ At 5:04 p.m., Chairperson Eric Dryer called the meeting to order. He said he didn’t think the committee had a quorum, so a supermajority was necessary for any votes during this meeting.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 27/30

⏪ The committee approved this meeting’s agenda — which I couldn’t find on RTA’s website — and the previous meeting’s minutes.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 28/30

⏪ 📣 At 5:06 p.m., the committee proceeded to hear public comments… but there were none.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 29/30

⏪ The committee voted to appoint new executive members: John Waterman as chair, along with Michael Bedard, Parnell McCarter, Robert Pawlowski, and an unspecified member named Thomas — either Thomas Yazbeck or Thomas Zerafa. Eric Dryer stepped down as chair.

Dan / @civicDetroitDan@a2mi.social @civicDetroitDan 30/30

⏪ 📝 At 5:12, RTA staffmember Ben Stupka presented the RTA Overview and Activity Report. Key points: …

View thread

Attachments

2272023- CAC

By Dan Ignacio 2/27/2023

Transcript and recording

By Noah Kincade 2/27/2023

Audio recording of online meeting

By Dan Ignacio 2/27/2023

Agency Information

Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan

See Documenters reporting

The RTA was created by Public Act No. 387 to manage and secure transportation resources that significantly enhance mobility options, improve quality of life for residents and increase economic viability for the region.. Its 10-member board is appointed for three year terms by the county executives of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, the chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, the Mayor of Detroit, and the Governor of Michigan. The Governor’s appointee serves as chair and without a vote.

Documents

No documents available

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