Regional transit stew : consensus building and transit building in metro Detroit.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  A study of factors that inhibit and enable development of sustainable regional transit systems in Southeastern Michigan. Regional transit stew : consensus building and transit building in metro Detroit. One of seven final reports resulting from this project.
• Creators:
  Hanifin, Leo ; Douglas, Scott
• Corporate Creators:
  Mineta National Transit Research Consortium ; University of Detroit Mercy
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration ; Michigan. Dept. of Transportation. Research Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Coalitions Financing Leadership Metropolitan Areas Politics Public Transit Regional Development Regional Transportation Stakeholders Transportation Planning
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CA-MNTRC-14-1136 ; RC-1599
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Detroit (Michigan)
• Corporate Publisher:
  Mineta National Transit Research Consortium
• Abstract:
  Over a period of 15 months during 2012 and 2013, an interdisciplinary team of six faculty members and six students at the
  
  University of Detroit Mercy studied the factors that enable and inhibit the development of effective regional transit, focusing on
  
  Metro Detroit and four peer regions: Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver and St. Louis. This report provides the key findings related to
  
  transit leadership and politics, especially those related to the successful planning and funding of regional transit. The processes
  
  described employ a metaphor of “transit stew” that emphasizes the broad variety of values and opinions (“ingredients” and
  
  “flavors”) that exist in any major metropolitan area. This diversity must be blended in ways that respond to each stakeholder group,
  
  allowing each group to remain faithful to their values and priorities (retain their flavor), but also compromising to accommodate the
  
  values and priorities of other stakeholders (absorb and blend flavors). Such a process will create a system that provides value to
  
  all, but may not be perfect for any. In fact, a guiding principle for the entire process is “don’t let perfect be the enemy of progress.”1
  
  A three-phase process is presented that starts with sharing and recognition of all stakeholders’ perspectives on what they want
  
  and need from regional transit. This leads to the creation of a consensus vision of regional transit in terms of characteristics,
  
  but not a system design. The second phase, translation of that vision into a specific transit system design and plans to develop
  
  it, must be done by transit professionals, always keeping the leaders of stakeholder groups aware and engaged and providing
  
  feedback on options under consideration. Once an acceptable plan emerges, phase three involves the stakeholder leaders
  
  actively advocating for the plan and its funding through “segmented advocacy”—emphasizing the values and impact of the
  
  system that are most important to the specific segment of the population. Once each segment sees that the system will support
  
  their values and objectives, funding and building of the system become far more likely.
  
  The need for creation of a very diverse and active coalition in Metro Detroit is also discussed, along with examples of the
  
  successes of coalitions in advancing transit in other regions including St. Louis and Los Angeles, or failing to do so by not coming
  
  together in their transit stew (Atlanta).
  
  Finally, the roles of stakeholder leaders, and the special roles of government, business and educational leaders, are discussed
  
  and amplified by examples from other regions, including Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver and St. Louis.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT12-G-UTC21 2010-0299
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:fffcb4299c772b07b4806ae7c3312be486813c9f4f4ec55ef0851f0485949b7e
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27359/dot_27359_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 832.12 KB ]