Entry #7: “Transit Tuesday”

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to participate in what is known as “Transit Tuesday!” Joel, member of the Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength organization (MOSES), invited my coworkers and I to come downtown and help spread information about the upcoming vote to raise the SMART millage. We happily obliged and met Joel and his people in the heart of the city after work. I was excited to get active politically within the city.

As soon as we got there, we started handing out flyers and educating folks on the importance of the SMART millage increase. It was interesting to hear what people had to say about the SMART buses, considering that many were not from Detroit, but rather the suburbs. I never realized how critical public transportation is to our region as a whole, not just to the city of Detroit. Hence, I really hope that the Locally Preferred Alternative plan the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) will be releasing in August advocates for the gold-standard, a metric used to describe the quality of a bus-rapid-transit (BRT) system. As we move increasingly towards a service-based economy, we will need transit for service workers to get to where service is demanded, thus the gold-standard would be great for the region.

After a couple of hours, all who canvassed and a few others met up at a bar to play a game of “Smartopoly.” In his spare time, Joel designed this game where two teams compete to get their buses to opposite sides of the board, the city and the suburbs. One must travel the routes SMART buses take, and chance cards existed to make the game more interesting and highlight some of the inefficiencies currently suffered by the SMART buses, and those resulting from a lack of advanced regional public transit.

The game was intense, but due to Noor’s magical rolling-the-dice skills, we managed to get all our buses to the suburbs safe and sound before the other team. I really enjoyed mingling with others who hold a passion for BRT, and I believe the game of “Smartopoly” taught me a lot about the problems our region faces regarding public transit. It didn’t hurt that the food was awesome too!

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the last “Transit Tuesday,” however you can count me in next time! A good purpose, good food, good people, and an awesome game of “Smartopoly” makes for a great time, and one that will not soon be forgotten. So, vote to raise the SMART millage and go BRT!!!