Oakland County Public Transit Is on a Roll

• • Oakland County is eliminating the boundaries between communities and truly creating a countywide public transportation system, such as SMART’s new fixed-route service to Novi.
  • Ridership is up more than 20 percent for WOTA, NOTA, OPC, and People’s Express after they expanded service areas and hours of operation.
  • The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is facilitating a regional federal grant application for Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties and SMART to attract federal investment in transit.

Pontiac, Mich.– Public transit is making strides in Oakland County nearly a year after voters approved a public transportation millage. Multi-year agreements were in place with SMART, Western Oakland Transportation Authority (WOTA), North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA), the Older Persons’ Commission (OPC), and People’s Express weeks after the vote while route and service planning continues with input from communities, businesses, and residents.

“Easily accessible, reliable and affordable transportation will help make Oakland County an even more attractive destination for residents, employers and visitors,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “Countywide public transportation has always been a top priority for me and the progress that has been made since voters agreed to fund the expansion is truly remarkable.”

Oakland County and its transportation service providers are expanding and improving public transit as the planning process continues. Some highlights include:

• Ridership is up more than 20 percent for WOTA, NOTA, OPC and People’s Express this year.
• WOTA, NOTA, OPC, and People’s Express expanded their service areas and operation hours.
• The fees to ride WOTA, NOTA, OPC, and People’s Express are standardized at $2 per ride.
• Oakland County is eliminating the boundaries between communities and truly creating a countywide public transportation system.
• SMART has expanded fixed routes to Novi and Wixom.
• SMART has a fixed route stop at Woodward and Long Lake in Bloomfield Hills.
• SMART is using Farmington, Pontiac and Troy as Flex micro-transit demonstration routes, which began prior to the millage approval but will inform where and how to serve future riders.
• The Oakland County Transit Division is completely staffed with an experienced transit manager and two planners.
• Oakland County is helping transit providers with some of the funds they need to expand and diversify their fleets.
• The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is facilitating a regional federal grant application for Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties and SMART to attract federal investment in transit, including for Woodward Bus Rapid Transit. This would not have been possible if Oakland County did not have county-wide public transportation.
• Next year, SMART will extend fixed routes from Troy into Rochester and from Pontiac into Waterford and White Lake along M-59, among other improvements.

“We are pleased to work with Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter and Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chairman David T. Woodward in supporting their efforts and those of the residents in providing greater access to communities by way of SMART’s bus transit in Oakland County. The expansion of routes provides economic growth, economic security, and regional competitiveness,” said Dwight Ferrell, general manager of SMART.

Oakland County’s transit goals include the growth of demand response through the county’s four local operators and SMART Flex for the public to schedule point-to-point rides.

“Better transit in Oakland County unlocks more opportunities for residents,” Board Chairman David T. Woodward said. “New routes to more destinations is one more step to creating the most connected, accessible and equitable transit system in our region’s history.”

The county’s other goals are to coordinate services among the different transit providers, expand transit to unserved and underserved areas, develop a long-term countywide plan that considers all transit options and where they should be implemented, enable more seamless transit trips, make transit stops easier, safer and more comfortable, implement higher frequency, higher capacity transit including bus rapid transit, support the transition to low/zero-emission transit vehicles, and support transit-oriented development.

As Oakland County transit grows, transportation providers are still experiencing hiring challenges and delays in getting equipment which have slowed some efforts this year. The county and its transit providers, however, are working to resolve these issues so the entire system is stronger next year.

Of the total budget for the 10-year, 0.95 millage for transit approved by voters in November 2022, 79 percent of the funds are directed to transportation services with SMART, NOTA, WOTA, OPC and People’s Express. This year, one percent went to local governments for reimbursement for transportation they provided in 2023. Another one percent has paid administration costs. The remaining 19 percent is available for future services and service access enhancements.
SMART serves a more populous portion of the county while WOTA, NOTA, OPC and People’s Express cover a greater geographic area.

Additional information about transit services can be found on the Transit Division’s website at oakgov.com/OaklandTransit.