Regional Transit Master Plan

ENVISIONING THE FUTURE OF TRANSIT

RTA envisions a region with sufficient and stable funding to support improved public transit options that will advance equity by increasing accessibility; satisfy the integrated mobility needs of Southeast Michigan communities; and promote livable, healthy, and sustainable growth. In order to develop a strategic agenda, and to coordinate ongoing and future planning activities, RTA releases yearly updates to the Regional Transit Master Plan (RTMP). 

Read the 2023 RTMP below. The 2024 DRAFT RTMP and appendix are open for comment. Comments can be made by contacting the RTA by Jan. 3, 2025. The 2024 draft appendix is available here.

WHAT TO KNOW

Plan Highlights

Top Ten Strategies

The RTA has identified 10 core strategies to carry out its goals to Fund, Improve, Expand, Innovate, and Sustain transit service in Southeast Michigan.

Read the latest RTMP here!

Transit Trends and Overview

The RTA explores the top trends, challenges, and opportunities in the region and nationally.

Read the latest RTMP here!

Vision for the future

The RTA considers future directions and services for the region—subject to the availability of funding.

Read the latest RTMP here!

RTMP History

The original RMTP was approved in August 2016. The 2016 RMTP was a fiscally constrained 20-year master plan with a total recommended investment of $4.6 billion. That plan led to 1.2 mil property tax levy request on the November 2016 ballot. That initiative was narrowly defeated.

2016 Regional Transit Master Plan

The RMTP was paired with the development of five major regional corridor investments projects. These culminated in adopted Locally Preferred Alternatives for all five corridors.

Woodward Avenue Locally Preferred Alternative (adopted in November 2015)

Gratiot Avenue Locally Preferred Alternative (adopted in May 2016) 

Michigan Corridor Locally Preferred Alternatives (adopted in May 2016) 

The last several years have included robust discussions on how to best update the 2016 RMTP. This included the developed the draft Connect Southeast Michigan strategy. This effort represented several important advancements in our regional transit discussion. These included more services in more places, investment programs to support local services in less urbanized areas, and programs to support the integration of new technologies to modernize the transit system.

The RTA took a new approach to the RTMP during the pandemic, receiving an outpouring of feedback that was factored into an updated RTMP. Between May and September 2021, RTA heard from over 4,370 people through the following methods:

Nine virtual open houses
Over a dozen targeted listening sessions
Online survey
General public survey
Transit rider survey

ADVANCE 2021 became RTA’s foundational RTMP.

2021 Master Plan Executive Summary

2021 Advance Regional Master Transit Plan (RMTP)

2022 Regional Master Transit Plan Update

RTA completed a strategic analysis of major regional transit corridors and their competitiveness for FTA’s Capital Investment Grant program. The Regional Transit Corridor Strategy report lays out that analysis and a strategy for moving forward with implementing these corridors in partnership with the transit providers and MDOT.