Local officials are not thrilled with the possibility of a half-mill countywide tax to support and expand the SMART bus system, especially when there’s an existing local transportation system that works just fine in their opinion.
‘That is absolutely astronomical,? said Pat Fitchena, director of the North Oakland Transportation Authority, referring to the proposed millage rate. ‘NOTA has proven that it can do it much cheaper with much better service.?
Serving Oxford, Addison and Orion townships, NOTA provides free rides to senior citizens, disabled individuals, participants in the welfare-to-work program, and folks who are ‘transit dependent,? meaning they’re at least 18 years old and don’t have either a driver’s license or vehicle for a variety of reasons.
Riders call NOTA in advance and schedule an appointment when they need a lift somewhere.
While SMART makes sense in the county’s southern half, which is more densely populated and urbanized, some officials feel an operation like NOTA better serves the rural north where the population’s smaller and more spread out.
‘I think for the northern communities and for a lot of the western communities, (SMART’s) not what we need. We need the dial-a-ride type of service (that NOTA offers),? said Oxford Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari. ‘I can’t see using our local tax dollars to fund bus services that a lot of our residents would never utilize.?
Some local officials don’t like the idea of a countywide millage taking away the individual municipality’s ability to choose if and how public transportation’s provided.
‘The residents of Oxford already turned down dealing with SMART. That’s why they went out on their own,? said Oxford Township Supervisor Bill Dunn. ‘We don’t need this forced down our throats. I’m not for it.?
Back in the mid-1990s, Oxford and Addison both opted-out of SMART, via township board votes, because they believed the millage was too high compared to what their residents? needs were. The two townships then started their own dial-a-ride transportation service.
In 2001, they joined forces with Orion Township to form NOTA, another dial-a-ride service.
Dunn believes NOTA does just fine on its own. ‘It gets most people who need a ride where they need to go without any problems,? he said. ‘We don’t need to bring SMART in. I don’t believe bigger is always better. Personally, I would have rather kept our bus service between Oxford and Addison and left Orion out.?
Addison Supervisor Bruce Pearson also had a high opinion of NOTA’s service.
‘My opinion is NOTA does very well for us,? he said, noting he really likes the local control aspect. ‘I don’t think you could do it any better than the way we’re doing it.?
Pearson is particularly fond of the strong local control aspect NOTA offers when it comes to day-to-day operations.
‘We can do things a lot quicker through a local transportation system,? he said. ‘We meet the needs of our residents immediately whereas you get into a big conglomerate like (SMART), it’s going to be like pulling teeth to get anything you need.?
For example, last week, the NOTA board voted to extend its Monday-Friday hours. Service will still begin at 6 a.m., but starting Oct. 1, it will end at 7 p.m., two hours later.
In the very near future, NOTA plans to extend service until 9 p.m., ‘so people can get to and from work,? according to Fitchena.
Fitchena doesn’t think the SMART system can offer the same personalized service NOTA does.
‘I don’t believe these people will do a door-to-door service like we do,? she said. ‘We take care of our own people.?
NOTA picks people up at their residence and drops them off right at their destination, be it a workplace, doctor’s office, hair salon or grocery store. It also takes them home again.
Fitchena said SMART buses are ‘not going to travel a mile-and-a-half off the (main) road to pick up a client and take them to a doctor’s appointment.?
For the most part, SMART buses typically operate on fixed routes, meaning they travel along designated routes and provide stops at specific locations and times.
However, SMART does offer some curb-to-curb services within designated areas.
Fitchena believes NOTA is a ‘bargain? compared to what people could be paying under the SMART millage.
Right now, SMART communities pay a tax rate of 0.59 mill for their bus service. Based on the township’s total current taxable value, such a millage amount in Oxford Township alone would generate $467,524 for SMART.
Oxford’s contribution to NOTA is $79,500 and there is no separate millage for it.
NOTA is funded by a combination of monies allocated from the three townships, federal grant dollars and private donations.
And unlike SMART, there’s no fee for NOTA rides.
‘Our people ride for free,? Fitchena said.
Officials fear the only thing a countywide transportation tax would do is help funnel more money from the northern end of the county to the southern end.
‘We pay the high dollar taxes, but we don’t reap the benefits of Southfield and all those other communities below us,? Fitchena said. ‘Funding for anything in the northern tier of Oakland County has not really been there.?
‘We’ve always known that the south end of the county holds the population and so they would also probably hold the purse strings,? Pearson said. ‘I don’t know if it would benefit us or not. I’d had have to really look at that one. This is really the first I’ve heard of it . . . I’d have to check to make sure they’re not going to take funding away from us in any way and that they’re not going to take away our ability to operate as efficiently as we are.?
‘We just don’t have the same type of (public transportation) needs that south Oakland does,? Ferrari said. ‘Basically, what would end up happening is we would end up funding the other communities.?
‘I don’t think you would ever be able to justify the dollars you would send versus what you would get back. We would definitely be a donor community,? the treasurer noted.