[nfbmi-talk] Express shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold FW: an ada issue worthy of the list serveExpress shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold Express shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold

[Fred Wurtzel]

Hello,

This reporter has the story right.  He is homing on the true issue.  The
airport has written the agreement in such a way as to make it impossible for
public transportation to comply.  This is a continuation of the hostile
attitude toward persons with disabilities which we have experienced for many
years.  This situation will take a long time to settle because the airport
has so much money.  They do not, however, have a morally defensable
position.  In the end this will be their downfall.  This is all about money
and there are billions involved.  This kind of money keeps the skids greased
when and where the airport sees fit.

Warmest Regards,

Fred 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Terry
D. Eagle via nfbmi-talk
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 8:12 AM
To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
Cc: Terry D. Eagle
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Express shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold FW:
an ada issue worthy of the list serveExpress shuttle service to Metro
Airport on hold Express shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold

Express shuttle service to Metro Airport on hold 

 

By Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press Plans to launch express shuttle bus
service to Detroit Metro Airport

from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are on hold. No bids from potential
vendors were received by Friday's deadline for the Regional Transportation

Authority of Southeast Michigan's request for proposal for the service,
according to RTA spokesman Travis Gonyou, who said it was a bit surprising.
The

situation is a blow to the RTA's efforts to provide what Chief Executive
Officer Michael Ford has called 'appetizers,' tangible examples of what
regional

transit can provide residents as the agency prepares to ask voters in
November 2016 to support a regional master transit plan. That effort will
include

a request for funding, although the specific amount, likely in the form of a
millage, has not yet been determined. The cost to operate the service is
unknown,

but Ford said it could be $5 million to $10 million per year. Those
submitting proposals will be expected to lay out funding options since no
money has

been set aside. Ford said fares should eventually pay for it. Gonyou,
however, said that there is time before that vote happens and the express
service,

which was expected to launch incrementally beginning in the spring, could be
incorporated into the master plan. 'It's not something that we've given up

on,' Gonyou said, noting that the RTA will be reaching out to the top five
vendors in the airport shuttle industry for feedback. Express service from
downtown

Detroit and other locations has long been a desire of transit advocates, and
Ford has touted the AirRide service operated by Michigan Flyer and provided

through its partnership with the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority as
an example of how he would like the service to operate. That service
launched

in 2012 while Ford was heading the AAATA. Notably, Michigan Flyer did not
submit a bid for service from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. But legal
issues

and questions the company has raised about an operator agreement required by
the airport authority included in the request for proposal could provide
some

insight into the decision. The company sued the Wayne County Airport
Authority in federal court in April alleging retaliation 'due to their
support for

people with disabilities' in a separate suit last year. That initial suit,
which was technically settled but in which litigation is continuing,
involved

a decision by Metro Airport to move the pickup and drop-off stops for
AirRide and other bus services to the airport's Ground Transportation Center
from

the arrival area of the McNamara international terminal. The company
alleges, among other things, that the airport authority after that case was
settled

reduced the amount of time buses could remain at the curb, causing
passengers to miss their flights, and forced buses to leave before scheduled
departure

times. Brian Sadek, in-house counsel for the Wayne County Airport Authority,
declined to comment on the latest suit, noting that it is active litigation,

but he defended the inclusion of the operator agreement. The permit 'really
just encapsulates what already goes on at the Ground Transportation Center

there. Sadek, who previously said that the airport would waive the $30
passenger pickup fee as it does for other public transit services, said all
bus

operators operate under the core terms of the agreement. Contact Eric D.
Lawrence: elawrence at freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @_ericdlawrence.
Staff

writer Cassandra Spratling contributed to this report.

 

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