The SMART Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 27, 2017 at
1:15 PM. This meeting will be held in SMART'S Board room located on the sixth floor of the
Buhl building, 535 Griswold Street, Detroit, Michigan 48226.

 

This meeting is open to the public.

The Board of Directors meeting of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation board meeting will be held on Thursday, April 27th at 2:00 PM in the Authority’s Board Room located on the sixth floor of the Buhl Building, 535 Griswold, Detroit MI 48226.

This meeting is open to the public.

A meeting of the local advisory council  of the Suburban Mobility Authority For Regional Transportation (SMART) will be held on

Friday, March 17, 2017
9:00 A.M.
Buhl Building
SMART Board Room, 6th Floor
535 Griswold Street
Detroit, Michigan  48226

The Meeting is Open to the Public.

A meeting of the local advisory council  of the Suburban Mobility Authority For Regional Transportation (SMART) will be held on

Friday, March 18, 2016

9:00 A.M.

Buhl Building

SMART Board Room, 6th Floor

535 Griswold Street Detroit, Michigan  48226

The Meeting is Open to the Public.

 Meeting Minutes - December 2015

Agenda

Check out SMART’s new interactive schedules page!  Now, you have options when viewing and printing your schedule.  Like before, you can select your route, direction and day of service. To drill down to the section of the schedule you want to see, select a starting and stopping timepoint along with a starting and ending time.  You will get a scaled down version of the schedule to print and take with you!

Still interested in the full schedule?  Click on the printable pdf button on the right!

Go check out the new SMART schedules page!

The SMART Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 2:00 PM. This meetings will be held in SMART’S Board room located on the sixth floor of the Buhl building, 535 Griswold Street, Detroit, Michigan 48226.

This meetings are open to the public.

September 21, 2015 (Highland Park, MI) - SMART and the city of Highland Park will celebrate the introduction of a new bus at a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:00am at the Gabrielle Apartments located at 14201 Second Avenue, Highland Park, MI 48203.  The new bus is a replacement vehicle to transport senior citizens to their choice of destinations, allowing them a continued quality of life and freedom of independence.  Attendees at the event include Mayor DeAndre Windom, City Council members, riders of the bus service and SMART staff.

Through the SMART Community Partnership Program (CPP), communities have access to funding and SMART resources to help operate local community transit programs. The CPP helps local municipalities provide community transit programs for their residents and supports a variety of transit needs including:  operating expenses, bus purchases, maintenance, loaner vehicles and technical assistance to help communities develop, design and operate service. 

“SMART plays an important role with communities like Highland Park in supporting their local transit programs for their residents, helping them get to medical appointments, work and school,” said SMART General Manager John Hertel, “Through our Community Partnership Program, SMART is able to bring federal dollars back to the community to ensure seniors and people with disabilities have access to the transit services they need.”

The Highland Park bus is operated by Peoples Community Service. The new bus serves as replacement vehicle and is equipped with a wheelchair lift to accommodate disabled passengers and has seating for 13 passengers. The new bus has a 6.8 liter diesel engine for better mileage. Peoples Community uses the bus four days a week to transport older adults and people with disabilities to medical appointments, the clinic, grocery shopping and other trips as needed.  

“It’s always a pleasure to add a valued service to our most cherished citizens, our seniors. The City of Highland Park would like to thank SMART for their contribution to our ongoing mission of ensuring Highland Park is an Age- Friendly city. Enhanced quality of life for the seniors is another step toward the Rebirth of Highland Park” 

-Mayor DeAndre Windom

SMART provides each CPP funding through Community Credits in which a portion of the transit property tax is returned to local communities for operating and or capital purchases. SMART also acts as the fiduciary agent for the State Municipal Credit Program.  Approximately $6.5 million annually has been redistributed by SMART via municipal and community credit programs to the area’s community-based transit programs.

Serving since 1967, SMART is southeast Michigan’s only regional public transportation provider, offering convenient, reliable and safe transportation for Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties. SMART offers a family of transit services, including fixed route and small bus services as well as support for local transportation programs to connect people to employment and educational institutions, medical appointments and shopping centers.  Through SMART’s small bus programs, over one million rides are provided to seniors and people with disabilities annually.  SMART is supported by federal and state funding, local contributions through a transit property tax millage from opt-in communities and bus fares. For routes and fare information, visit www.smartbus.org or call Customer Service at 866-962-5515. 

###

The SMART Nominating Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 1:30 PM.

The SMART Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 2:00 PM.  These meetings will be held in SMART’S Board room located on the sixth floor of the Buhl building, 535 Griswold Street, Detroit, Michigan 48226.

These meetings are open to the public.

A meeting of the local advisory council of the Suburban Mobility Authority For Regional Transportation (SMART) will be held on

Friday, September 18, 2015

9:00 A.M.

Oakland Terminal

Conference Room

2021 Barrett Street

Troy, Michigan  48084

 The meeting is open to the public

Agenda

Detroit, MI – The SMART Board of Directors approved the purchase of 80 new 40-foot Gillig buses at its August board meeting.  As promised during the 2014 millage, SMART continues to take significant steps to replace its aging fleet within the next 3 to 4 years.  Approximately, one year ago SMART ordered the first installment of 59 buses with delivery expected in late spring 2016.  The second installment of 80 buses will be delivered in 2017.

“We are making great strides to replace our aging fleet as quickly as possible,” said John C. Hertel, general manager, “We are keeping the promise we made during the millage.  Not only will there be new buses on the road soon, but our riders will get to experience a much improved ride and better service.  They deserve it given their support during the millage and their understanding of the importance of the bus service for the region.”

Earlier this year, SMART introduced 61 propane autogas Connector buses to its fleet establishing it as the second largest propane autogas powered paratransit fleet in Michigan and one of the top five largest in the United States.  The new propane Connector buses are fueled with affordable, clean, domestically produced propane gas which will help reduce fuel and maintenance costs and extend the life of the engine. 

The SMART maintenance department repairs and maintains a mix of more than 600 buses including Fixed Route, Connector and Community Transit buses.  More than 80 percent of the Fixed Route buses have exceeded 500,000 miles with some reaching more that 700,000 miles.  Because of the age and number of miles accumulating daily on the fleet, SMART is intent on getting new buses ordered and on the road as soon as possible. The buses are manufactured by Gillig Corporation and are a BRT design, with stainless steel bike rack for 3 bikes, new illuminator LED signs and non-skid flooring.  In addition, SMART’s entire fleet of buses have been equipped with cameras and the new buses will have 11 cameras installed on each, providing a 360 degree view of the interior and exterior of each bus.  The cost for these new buses is approximately $433,000 each. 

In August 2014, the SMART millage was overwhelmingly passed with a 66% approval.  The SMART public transit millage was a renewal and increase from .59 mils to 1.0 mil.  This was the first tax increase for the authority since 2002.  The additional $27 million generated from the increased millage has been used to stabilize SMART’s budget and to purchase new buses to replace those that have exceeded 500,000 miles. 

Even with the increased millage, SMART still has the lowest millage rate in Michigan, yet serves a larger population and geographic area than the nine largest transit agencies in the state combined.  SMART provides 10 million rides annually with 70 percent of riders going to work.  Seniors and people with disabilities ride SMART 1.8 million times annually, using the service for dialysis treatments, medical appointments and for grocery trips. 

Serving residents since 1967, SMART is southeast Michigan’s only regional public transportation provider, offering convenient, reliable and safe transportation for Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties. SMART’s Fixed Route and small bus services connect people to employment and educational institutions, medical appointments and shopping centers. For routes and fare information, visit smartbus.org.

###