On Tuesday, the Wayne County transit millage passed in a landslide. We here at Strong Towns Detroit were ecstatic, because we canvassed and spread the word along with our friends at Transportation Riders United. We believe an inclusive transportation system is key to building resilient communities.

Just how much support did transit enjoy? Only 7 communities out of the 42 that voted for the millage rejected it. 25 communities enjoyed 60% or more support, with 8 communities – Detroit, Highland Park, Inkster, River Rouge, Harper Woods, Ecorse, Redford Township, and Grosse Pointe Park – with more than 70% support. 

Of the 17 opt-out communities, more than half of them voted in favor of opting in to the Wayne County Millage. The following communities voted in favor of a new tax in order to have access to public transit:

• Belleville – 60%
• Brownstown Township – 50.9%
• Canton Township – 59.2%
• Plymouth – 60.4%
• Plymouth Township – 51.7%
• Van Buren Township – 50.7%
• Woodhaven – 51.6%

Additionally, Detroit, which is technically an “opt-out” community because we have our own transit agency, DDOT, voted in favor of the new tax with a whopping 85% of the vote. 

The largest community to reject the millage was Livonia, where “yes” got 49.9% of the vote. This wasn’t surprising: the Livonia electorate has historically been tax-averse. What is surprising is how close it was. It was basically 50/50. This should be celebrated and shows how far support for public transit has come!

It’s also worth mentioning that the few remaining communities where voters did reject it overwhelmingly are the cities and townships that are more rural in character (collectively, they make up ~0.03% of the electorate this election). It’s no surprise that the needs and values of rural voters are different from the needs of the majority of urbanized Wayne county. It will be interesting to see when the county votes to renew this millage, if these places become more supportive of transit once they start seeing members of their community using it.

Regardless of the demographics and type of places that supported it less or more, it’s amazing to see 67% support county-wide! This shows that transit is now popular with voters, and we should expect our elected officials to take it seriously.