The Transit Legislative Day on Tuesday, April 22, organized by the Let’s Get Moving Coalition was a resounding success. This was the third such legislative day in Lansing put on by our Coalition and the attendance was tremendous from locations throughout the lower peninsula, east to west. More than 75 attendees met personally with Senators, Representatives and their legislative staff people and made the case for continued strong funding for transit. Advocates included representatives of transit agencies, the disability community, transit riders, the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, local government, planning agencies, counties, cities and others. The morning kicked off at 8:30 with a presentation from Representatives Marie Donigan, Lee Gonzales and Gabe Leland who spoke about their work in the Legislative Transit Caucus, the special House subcommittee on public transit, and the House Appropriations process for transportation.
A highlight of the day came at 2 p.m. when House Speaker Andy Dillon, Rep. Donigan, Rep. Hoon Yung Hopgood and Rep. Tom Pearce joined representatives of the Coalition in a bi-partisan news conference in the Capitol Rotunda to announce record transit ridership and to call for increased funding. Hats off and a huge thank you to Megan Owens of Transportation Riders United (TRU) in Detroit (a LGM Coalition partner) for organizing the press conference.