Livonia votes out of SMART, jeopardizing bus system

Laura Little / Special to The Detroit NewsReba Villarosa of Inkster boards a SMART bus in Livonia. A referendum passed 55-45 percent to withdraw from SMART and use a 0.5-mill tax to expand community bus operations for seniors.

From the Detroit News article, "Livonia votes out of SMART, jeopardizing bus system":

One of Metro Detroit's biggest suburbs wants to dump the region's beleaguered bus system, leaving a gaping hole in an already patchwork service. Livonia residents voted Tuesday to give the City Council approval to withdraw the city's $2.4 million tax subsidy of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), prompting worry among bus advocates that other suburbs may follow suit. The council is expected to make the move official by year's end.

With 100,000 residents, Livonia would be the largest city to end the service, which serves Detroit and 50 of 103 suburbs in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Farmington Hills officials are debating whether to bow out of the system in 2006. "There are fears other communities might get the idea to save some pennies by doing what Livonia did," said Mike Whims, a spokesman for Transportation Riders United, a mass transit advocacy group.