| SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY |
SEMTA HISTORY - PART I: DETROIT'S MOVE TOWARD REGIONAL MASS TRANSIT
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S MOVE TO SAVE PUBLIC TRANSIT:
During World War II, transit ridership across the United States would skyrocket, as transit agencies across the country
would benefit from government imposed gasoline rationing implemented during the war, which forced Americans to
turn to public transit in droves. But that period in U.S. history would be the last hurrah for public transit in America,
especially for those transit systems that were privately-owned. Not only was the automobile now much more
affordable for many American families after the war, but the construction of new roadways and federally-financed
expressways, including the Interstate Highway System, made automobile commuting more attractive. As quickly as
1950, transit ridership numbers across the country had plummeted to record lows.
With a decline in ridership and revenue, many transit companies were forced to abandon their streetcars (with their
high capital costs) for less expensive diesel coaches. Many city governments were forced to take-over transit
operations from privately-owned companies and form publicly-owned transit authorities. But continued ridership
loses, coupled with high labor costs, employee strikes, and inflation, would take its toll on the industry. By the 1960s,
public transit had ceased as a profit-making enterprise. An industry that once paid taxes to municipal governments
now had to depend on local tax dollars to survive. Since the federal government had already been financing the
building of new roads since 1916, many desperate cities now began turning to the federal government to seek similar
funding to support public transit.
The move in the direction toward federal participation in local transportation funding was stimulated by a
"Transportation Message to Congress" by President John F. Kennedy on April 5, 1962. In that message, the
President recommended that Congress establish a long-term program of Federal aid to urban mass transportation in
the form of direct grants to regional mass transportation systems across the country. That message opened a new
era in urban transportation and would lead to this country's first real effort to provide federal assistance for urban
mass transportation development.
In 1964, the 88th United States Congress would pass the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (Public Law
88-365). The act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 9, 1964, provided $375 million for large-
scale urban public or private rail projects in the form of matching funds to cities and states. The objective of the act
was " ...to encourage the planning and establishment of areawide urban mass transportation systems needed
for economical and desirable urban development." The Urban Mass Transportation Act would authorize federal
capital grants for up to two-thirds of the cost of transit improvements, including equipment for mass transportation
(including buses), and the construction and reconstruction of transit facilities. However, all federal funds had to be
channeled through approved public agencies. The releasing of these new federal grant dollars would no doubt
positively impact public transit operations across the country, including here in Metropolitan Detroit.
THE METRO DETROIT PRE-SEMTA YEARS:
Meanwhile, public transportation in Metropolitan Detroit during the 1960s consisted of the Detroit owned-and-operated
Department of Street Railways (DSR), and numerous privately-owned suburban bus companies, including: DeLuxe
Motor Stages, Great Lakes Transit Corp., Lake Shore Coach Lines, Martin Lines, Metropolitan Transit Inc., and
Northville Coach Lines. However, the long decline in patronage and revenues experienced by transit operations
nation-wide was also being experienced by Detroit area bus companies, including the DSR; convincing a number of
local leaders that a regional approach was necessary for public transit to survive in Metro Detroit.
Detroit's first move toward regional transportation came in early 1964, when then DSR general manager Lucas S. Miel
proposed saving the financially-troubled system by merging it with a three-county transit agency. While the city charter
mandated that the DSR must operate from fare box revenues alone, a newly–created transit authority would be able to
receive tax subsidies. With the support of Mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh, a charter amendment proposal came under
consideration which sought to merge the DSR with a newly-formed public transportation department tentatively known
as the Rapid Transit Authority. The amendment would also authorise the DSR to extend its operating area ten miles
beyond the city limits, pending approval from the state legislature.
But the proposal couldn't muster enough support. Instead, Detroit voters were asked to approve a charter amendment
authorizing the DSR to share in the Federal Government's $375 million urban-transportation aid program, passed by
the U.S. Congress a few months prior. The proposed amendment also allowed the Common Council to appropriate
from the city's General Fund the required (one-third) matching monies needed for the DSR to obtain the federal grants.
This, along with a few other changes implemented by the charter amendment, managed to momentarily keep the DSR
afloat.
Even though the Sept. 1964 charter changes would manage to temporarily give the Detroit system new life, it still didn't
address the region's pressing need for regional transportation. With the surrounding suburbs still being serviced by
small independent financially-strapped bus companies, the passage of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
helped to generate discussions toward a southeast Michigan region–wide approach. Such a system would meet the
new federal requirement leanings toward regional transit planning and better qualify the area for newly available
federal capital grants.
Interestingly, Detroit city officials were quick to jump on the regional transit bandwagon. Mayor Cavanaugh, along with
his Special Assistant to the Mayor, Robert E. Toohey (who became DSR general manager in 1968), worked feverishly
in pushing toward a regional authority favoring control by the City and the DSR, rather than having the city bus system
(which was now back to operating in the black) be absorbed by a regional system. However, most out-state
lawmakers, probably fearful of more big-city influence, were reluctant, and had a different idea in mind.
REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY CREATED:
On July 10, 1967, the Michigan State Legislature passed the Metropolitan Transportation Authorities Act of 1967
(Public Act 204), which authorized the creation of numerous metropolitan transportation authorities across the state.
One provision in the new legislation (Section 124.405) specified the formation of the Southeastern Michigan
Transportation Authority (SEMTA). This newly founded regional transit authority was organized with the long-range
goal of developing and operating a coordinated public mass transportation system within the seven-county Detroit
metropolitan region. The counties included in the authority were: Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw,
and Wayne. The mostly rural Livingston County would come on board sometime shortly afterward.
Not only was this new Authority—defined by the enabling legislation as a public benefit agency and instrumentality of
the state with all the powers of a public corporation—charged with planning, constructing, maintaining, replacing,
improving, extending and contracting for services between the numerous transit providers located within its territorial
boundaries, but to eventually acquire and consolidate the eighteen bus companies which operated within the region.
These included a number of intercity bus operations, the six financially-strapped transit bus companies that ran
between Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, and a few even smaller operations outside the city limits, such as The
Bee Line, Pontiac Transit Corp. and Port Huron Transit Co. It would also include acquiring the City of Detroit owned-
and-operated DSR.
Unfortunately, this new legislation did not grant SEMTA with any powers to levy taxes or with any continuing source of
funding. Consequently, SEMTA had to depend upon acquiring federal grants through the financial assistance
provided by the local communities and transit properties within the region. The assistance provided by these
agencies would help to provide the matching one-third local share money needed to qualify for federal grants. This
arrangement would have to suffice until other funding sources could be obtained. This kind of joint financial
cooperation would succeed in assisting SEMTA in obtaining federal funding for two major projects during the early
1970s.
In May of 1971, the suburban bus company Lake Shore Coach Lines—which serviced the five Grosse Pointe
communities and St. Clair Shores into downtown Detroit—announced that it was discontinuing operations at the end
of July. To keep the service operating, SEMTA was able to persuade the six communities serviced by the company to
provide (on a pro rata basis) the required $78,000 local share money needed to help SEMTA acquire a $156,000
federal grant to purchase the Lake Shore company.
In addition, the six communities had also agreed to collectively pay up to $5,000 per month for any operational loses
sustained by SEMTA in keeping the Lake Shore line running through December 31, 1972. It had been hoped by
SEMTA officials that by that time Governor William G. Milliken's proposed Mass Transportation Bill — which had
been passed by the House but stalled in the Senate Committee on Highways since February 1971 — would become
a reality and provide SEMTA with an ongoing source of funding, and thus eliminate the need for the use of community
subsidies to keep the line running.
With the acquisition of Lake Shore Coach Lines, effective September 1, 1971, SEMTA had become (for the very first
time) an official operating agency. The Authority now owned 44 buses (with the latest models purchased in 1967),
four bus routes, and one bus garage located on Edlie Street south of E. Jefferson in Detroit. The four routes were
numbered L-1 thru L-4 and became SEMTA's new Lake Shore Division. To bolster service, SEMTA also acquired ten
retired GM TDH-5105 'old-look' coaches from the DSR, which were renumbered #430-439. In 1972, two more TDH-
5105's were purchased, one from Great Lakes Transit and another from the DSR (renumbered #440-441
respectively), bringing the total Lake Shore fleet to 56 buses. SEMTA was now officially in the business of operating
transit buses.
This regional cooperation had also been demonstrated in a more broader sense during the earlier months of 1971.
Since the two-thirds share of federal grant money for purchasing new coaches would now have to be channeled
through the recognized regional transit authority, a joint cooperative agreement had to be reached in order for SEMTA
to be able to place its first coach order for 154 new GMC transit buses. The local one-third share for these coaches
would be covered by $1.2 million from the City of Detroit (including $158,000 from DSR funds), $818,000 from the
State of Michigan, and $100,000 apiece from two area suburban bus companies; Metropolitan Transit, Inc. and Great
Lakes Transit Corp. Since the operating revenues were insufficient at the time to purchase new buses for the
struggling Lake Shore Coach Lines (which later announced it was discontinuing operations) the company had to
back-out of the cooperative agreement.
With the various entities now agreeing to put up the local $2.2 million shared cost of the $6.6 million coach order, the
remaining two-thirds would now be covered through a $4.4 million federal UMTA grant to SEMTA. This arrangement
made it possible for 99 of the coaches to be owned by the DSR, with the remaining 55 coaches owned by SEMTA. Of
the SEMTA owned buses, ten were leased (for token fees) to Metro Transit, ten leased to Great Lakes Transit, and
35 were leased to the DSR. These new GMC built "air-conditioned" coaches (model T8H-5307A) were all equipped
with two-way radios, heated front door steps, impact-absorbing water-filled front bumpers, and the more powerful 8-
cylinder Detroit Diesel 8V-71 engines. SEMTA was now becoming a major player in the Detroit regional transit arena.
NEW STATE FUNDING FOR REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITIES:
In early 1973, SEMTA would finally be granted a much needed ongoing source of funding from the state. On
December 31, 1972, the Michigan State Legislature would amend Act 51 of the Public Acts of 1951 with the
passage of Act 327 of the Public Acts of 1972, which was signed into law by Governor William Milliken on January 3,
1973. This amendatory act would finally provide eligible state transit authorities with a guaranteed source of funding
by establishing a separate statewide General Transportation Fund created within the state's motor vehicle highway
fund. This newly established form of revenue would be largely funded by an additional 2¢ per gallon gasoline tax, with
one quarter of that money (½ cent per gallon) slated for mass transit usage. Though far short of what would be
needed to provide a fully-funded regional system, the funding allowed SEMTA to begin making substantial progress
toward achieving its goals.
Meanwhile, by the early seventies, a number of bus companies in the area, including the DSR (whose ridership
numbers had dropped 25% in five years), were facing huge revenue loses and possible bankruptcy. With the state's
new gas tax funds, SEMTA was able to enter into a number of short-term "purchase-of-services" agreements, where
SEMTA would pay local bus companies for maintaining service on their own routes. This arrangement managed to
keep the companies in operation until many were later bought-out by SEMTA. This type of arrangement would also
kept the Detroit system in operation through the remaining DSR years.
Purchase-of-service agreements were also used by SEMTA to launch a series of Direct Access Shuttle (DASH)
routes linking various suburbs, and to relaunch suburban service recently discontinued by the DSR. These service
agreements would also be used to take over the operation of Pontiac's bus lines. After that city cancelled its service
contract with the Pontiac Transit Corp. in late 1970, the city's Department of Public Works took over the bus routes
effective February 2, 1971, as the Pontiac Municipal Transit Service. New coaches were purchased and the four
routes were combined into two. However, effective July 2, 1973, the small city-run system (including drivers) was
transferred-over to SEMTA, which would use purchase-of-service agreements with Great Lakes Transit to operate the
two former Pontiac routes.
SUBURBAN BUS COMPANIES PURCHASED:
The growth of SEMTA can be somewhat compared to the growth of the federally funded AMTRAK, which was able to
increase its size by acquiring a number of smaller passenger railroad companies. With state funds now available,
SEMTA was now in a better position to finally begin acquiring the transit providers located within its region. First on
the list would be Metropolitan [Metro] Transit, based out of Dearborn, which serviced the Detroit western and
downriver suburbs. The company's 60 buses and 14 routes were purchased for $1.3 million. SEMTA took-over
operations on January 1, 1974, with the routes renumbered as M-1, M-2, etc., which would form the new Metropolitan
Division.
Next would come the purchase of Great Lakes Transit, based out of Birmingham, which serviced the northern east
and west suburbs as well as the downriver city of Wyandotte. The company's vast number of routes were based off of
three trunk lines along Gratiot, West Jefferson and Woodward Avenues, with various alternate, local and limited routes
branching off the main lines. Great Lakes' 104 buses and three garages were purchased for $2.2 million, with
SEMTA taking over operations effective April 1, 1974. Although most former Great Lakes routes were assigned route
numbers prefixed with the letter "G", its Roseville garage operation was reassigned to the Lake Shore division, and
the Wyandotte operation moved to the Metropolitan division. The remaining routes now formed SEMTA's new Great
Lakes Division.
The last and smallest of the suburban operators purchased by SEMTA was the Martin Lines, which serviced Royal
Oak into Detroit and Highland Park. The company's 19 buses and two routes were purchased for $345,000, with
SEMTA operation beginning March 20, 1975. SEMTA was also able to acquire the company's five-state Interstate
Commerce Commission (ICC) charter license, which it would continue to utilize for its interstate chartered service
operation. With the acquisition of Martin Lines, SEMTA's suburban consolidation program had now been completed.
Consequently, a number of the smaller suburban transit companies which were never purchased, including Port
Huron Transit Company, DeLuxe Motor Stages and Northville Coach Line, would either go out of business or
eventually leave the transit bus business. Meanwhile, subsidies were provided to a number of out-state intercity bus
companies to operate routes between smaller cities further outside the Detroit city limits.
Of course, number one on the SEMTA priority list of bus system acquisitions was the city of Detroit's, 1,040-coach
fleet, Department of Street Railways (DSR). But that would become a task easier said than done. Although
negotiations on the sale of the DSR appeared somewhat optimistic by late 1973, things would take a major turn in
another direction upon the arrival of a newly elected city administration that would take office in January of 1974.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S MOVE TO SAVE PUBLIC TRANSIT:
During World War II, transit ridership across the United States would skyrocket, as transit agencies across the country
would benefit from government imposed gasoline rationing implemented during the war, which forced Americans to
turn to public transit in droves. But that period in U.S. history would be the last hurrah for public transit in America,
especially for those transit systems that were privately-owned. Not only was the automobile now much more
affordable for many American families after the war, but the construction of new roadways and federally-financed
expressways, including the Interstate Highway System, made automobile commuting more attractive. As quickly as
1950, transit ridership numbers across the country had plummeted to record lows.
With a decline in ridership and revenue, many transit companies were forced to abandon their streetcars (with their
high capital costs) for less expensive diesel coaches. Many city governments were forced to take-over transit
operations from privately-owned companies and form publicly-owned transit authorities. But continued ridership
loses, coupled with high labor costs, employee strikes, and inflation, would take its toll on the industry. By the 1960s,
public transit had ceased as a profit-making enterprise. An industry that once paid taxes to municipal governments
now had to depend on local tax dollars to survive. Since the federal government had already been financing the
building of new roads since 1916, many desperate cities now began turning to the federal government to seek similar
funding to support public transit.
The move in the direction toward federal participation in local transportation funding was stimulated by a
"Transportation Message to Congress" by President John F. Kennedy on April 5, 1962. In that message, the
President recommended that Congress establish a long-term program of Federal aid to urban mass transportation in
the form of direct grants to regional mass transportation systems across the country. That message opened a new
era in urban transportation and would lead to this country's first real effort to provide federal assistance for urban
mass transportation development.
In 1964, the 88th United States Congress would pass the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (Public Law
88-365). The act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 9, 1964, provided $375 million for large-
scale urban public or private rail projects in the form of matching funds to cities and states. The objective of the act
was " ...to encourage the planning and establishment of areawide urban mass transportation systems needed
for economical and desirable urban development." The Urban Mass Transportation Act would authorize federal
capital grants for up to two-thirds of the cost of transit improvements, including equipment for mass transportation
(including buses), and the construction and reconstruction of transit facilities. However, all federal funds had to be
channeled through approved public agencies. The releasing of these new federal grant dollars would no doubt
positively impact public transit operations across the country, including here in Metropolitan Detroit.
THE METRO DETROIT PRE-SEMTA YEARS:
Meanwhile, public transportation in Metropolitan Detroit during the 1960s consisted of the Detroit owned-and-operated
Department of Street Railways (DSR), and numerous privately-owned suburban bus companies, including: DeLuxe
Motor Stages, Great Lakes Transit Corp., Lake Shore Coach Lines, Martin Lines, Metropolitan Transit Inc., and
Northville Coach Lines. However, the long decline in patronage and revenues experienced by transit operations
nation-wide was also being experienced by Detroit area bus companies, including the DSR; convincing a number of
local leaders that a regional approach was necessary for public transit to survive in Metro Detroit.
Detroit's first move toward regional transportation came in early 1964, when then DSR general manager Lucas S. Miel
proposed saving the financially-troubled system by merging it with a three-county transit agency. While the city charter
mandated that the DSR must operate from fare box revenues alone, a newly–created transit authority would be able to
receive tax subsidies. With the support of Mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh, a charter amendment proposal came under
consideration which sought to merge the DSR with a newly-formed public transportation department tentatively known
as the Rapid Transit Authority. The amendment would also authorise the DSR to extend its operating area ten miles
beyond the city limits, pending approval from the state legislature.
But the proposal couldn't muster enough support. Instead, Detroit voters were asked to approve a charter amendment
authorizing the DSR to share in the Federal Government's $375 million urban-transportation aid program, passed by
the U.S. Congress a few months prior. The proposed amendment also allowed the Common Council to appropriate
from the city's General Fund the required (one-third) matching monies needed for the DSR to obtain the federal grants.
This, along with a few other changes implemented by the charter amendment, managed to momentarily keep the DSR
afloat.
Even though the Sept. 1964 charter changes would manage to temporarily give the Detroit system new life, it still didn't
address the region's pressing need for regional transportation. With the surrounding suburbs still being serviced by
small independent financially-strapped bus companies, the passage of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
helped to generate discussions toward a southeast Michigan region–wide approach. Such a system would meet the
new federal requirement leanings toward regional transit planning and better qualify the area for newly available
federal capital grants.
Interestingly, Detroit city officials were quick to jump on the regional transit bandwagon. Mayor Cavanaugh, along with
his Special Assistant to the Mayor, Robert E. Toohey (who became DSR general manager in 1968), worked feverishly
in pushing toward a regional authority favoring control by the City and the DSR, rather than having the city bus system
(which was now back to operating in the black) be absorbed by a regional system. However, most out-state
lawmakers, probably fearful of more big-city influence, were reluctant, and had a different idea in mind.
REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY CREATED:
On July 10, 1967, the Michigan State Legislature passed the Metropolitan Transportation Authorities Act of 1967
(Public Act 204), which authorized the creation of numerous metropolitan transportation authorities across the state.
One provision in the new legislation (Section 124.405) specified the formation of the Southeastern Michigan
Transportation Authority (SEMTA). This newly founded regional transit authority was organized with the long-range
goal of developing and operating a coordinated public mass transportation system within the seven-county Detroit
metropolitan region. The counties included in the authority were: Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw,
and Wayne. The mostly rural Livingston County would come on board sometime shortly afterward.
Not only was this new Authority—defined by the enabling legislation as a public benefit agency and instrumentality of
the state with all the powers of a public corporation—charged with planning, constructing, maintaining, replacing,
improving, extending and contracting for services between the numerous transit providers located within its territorial
boundaries, but to eventually acquire and consolidate the eighteen bus companies which operated within the region.
These included a number of intercity bus operations, the six financially-strapped transit bus companies that ran
between Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, and a few even smaller operations outside the city limits, such as The
Bee Line, Pontiac Transit Corp. and Port Huron Transit Co. It would also include acquiring the City of Detroit owned-
and-operated DSR.
Unfortunately, this new legislation did not grant SEMTA with any powers to levy taxes or with any continuing source of
funding. Consequently, SEMTA had to depend upon acquiring federal grants through the financial assistance
provided by the local communities and transit properties within the region. The assistance provided by these
agencies would help to provide the matching one-third local share money needed to qualify for federal grants. This
arrangement would have to suffice until other funding sources could be obtained. This kind of joint financial
cooperation would succeed in assisting SEMTA in obtaining federal funding for two major projects during the early
1970s.
In May of 1971, the suburban bus company Lake Shore Coach Lines—which serviced the five Grosse Pointe
communities and St. Clair Shores into downtown Detroit—announced that it was discontinuing operations at the end
of July. To keep the service operating, SEMTA was able to persuade the six communities serviced by the company to
provide (on a pro rata basis) the required $78,000 local share money needed to help SEMTA acquire a $156,000
federal grant to purchase the Lake Shore company.
In addition, the six communities had also agreed to collectively pay up to $5,000 per month for any operational loses
sustained by SEMTA in keeping the Lake Shore line running through December 31, 1972. It had been hoped by
SEMTA officials that by that time Governor William G. Milliken's proposed Mass Transportation Bill — which had
been passed by the House but stalled in the Senate Committee on Highways since February 1971 — would become
a reality and provide SEMTA with an ongoing source of funding, and thus eliminate the need for the use of community
subsidies to keep the line running.
With the acquisition of Lake Shore Coach Lines, effective September 1, 1971, SEMTA had become (for the very first
time) an official operating agency. The Authority now owned 44 buses (with the latest models purchased in 1967),
four bus routes, and one bus garage located on Edlie Street south of E. Jefferson in Detroit. The four routes were
numbered L-1 thru L-4 and became SEMTA's new Lake Shore Division. To bolster service, SEMTA also acquired ten
retired GM TDH-5105 'old-look' coaches from the DSR, which were renumbered #430-439. In 1972, two more TDH-
5105's were purchased, one from Great Lakes Transit and another from the DSR (renumbered #440-441
respectively), bringing the total Lake Shore fleet to 56 buses. SEMTA was now officially in the business of operating
transit buses.
This regional cooperation had also been demonstrated in a more broader sense during the earlier months of 1971.
Since the two-thirds share of federal grant money for purchasing new coaches would now have to be channeled
through the recognized regional transit authority, a joint cooperative agreement had to be reached in order for SEMTA
to be able to place its first coach order for 154 new GMC transit buses. The local one-third share for these coaches
would be covered by $1.2 million from the City of Detroit (including $158,000 from DSR funds), $818,000 from the
State of Michigan, and $100,000 apiece from two area suburban bus companies; Metropolitan Transit, Inc. and Great
Lakes Transit Corp. Since the operating revenues were insufficient at the time to purchase new buses for the
struggling Lake Shore Coach Lines (which later announced it was discontinuing operations) the company had to
back-out of the cooperative agreement.
With the various entities now agreeing to put up the local $2.2 million shared cost of the $6.6 million coach order, the
remaining two-thirds would now be covered through a $4.4 million federal UMTA grant to SEMTA. This arrangement
made it possible for 99 of the coaches to be owned by the DSR, with the remaining 55 coaches owned by SEMTA. Of
the SEMTA owned buses, ten were leased (for token fees) to Metro Transit, ten leased to Great Lakes Transit, and
35 were leased to the DSR. These new GMC built "air-conditioned" coaches (model T8H-5307A) were all equipped
with two-way radios, heated front door steps, impact-absorbing water-filled front bumpers, and the more powerful 8-
cylinder Detroit Diesel 8V-71 engines. SEMTA was now becoming a major player in the Detroit regional transit arena.
NEW STATE FUNDING FOR REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITIES:
In early 1973, SEMTA would finally be granted a much needed ongoing source of funding from the state. On
December 31, 1972, the Michigan State Legislature would amend Act 51 of the Public Acts of 1951 with the
passage of Act 327 of the Public Acts of 1972, which was signed into law by Governor William Milliken on January 3,
1973. This amendatory act would finally provide eligible state transit authorities with a guaranteed source of funding
by establishing a separate statewide General Transportation Fund created within the state's motor vehicle highway
fund. This newly established form of revenue would be largely funded by an additional 2¢ per gallon gasoline tax, with
one quarter of that money (½ cent per gallon) slated for mass transit usage. Though far short of what would be
needed to provide a fully-funded regional system, the funding allowed SEMTA to begin making substantial progress
toward achieving its goals.
Meanwhile, by the early seventies, a number of bus companies in the area, including the DSR (whose ridership
numbers had dropped 25% in five years), were facing huge revenue loses and possible bankruptcy. With the state's
new gas tax funds, SEMTA was able to enter into a number of short-term "purchase-of-services" agreements, where
SEMTA would pay local bus companies for maintaining service on their own routes. This arrangement managed to
keep the companies in operation until many were later bought-out by SEMTA. This type of arrangement would also
kept the Detroit system in operation through the remaining DSR years.
Purchase-of-service agreements were also used by SEMTA to launch a series of Direct Access Shuttle (DASH)
routes linking various suburbs, and to relaunch suburban service recently discontinued by the DSR. These service
agreements would also be used to take over the operation of Pontiac's bus lines. After that city cancelled its service
contract with the Pontiac Transit Corp. in late 1970, the city's Department of Public Works took over the bus routes
effective February 2, 1971, as the Pontiac Municipal Transit Service. New coaches were purchased and the four
routes were combined into two. However, effective July 2, 1973, the small city-run system (including drivers) was
transferred-over to SEMTA, which would use purchase-of-service agreements with Great Lakes Transit to operate the
two former Pontiac routes.
SUBURBAN BUS COMPANIES PURCHASED:
The growth of SEMTA can be somewhat compared to the growth of the federally funded AMTRAK, which was able to
increase its size by acquiring a number of smaller passenger railroad companies. With state funds now available,
SEMTA was now in a better position to finally begin acquiring the transit providers located within its region. First on
the list would be Metropolitan [Metro] Transit, based out of Dearborn, which serviced the Detroit western and
downriver suburbs. The company's 60 buses and 14 routes were purchased for $1.3 million. SEMTA took-over
operations on January 1, 1974, with the routes renumbered as M-1, M-2, etc., which would form the new Metropolitan
Division.
Next would come the purchase of Great Lakes Transit, based out of Birmingham, which serviced the northern east
and west suburbs as well as the downriver city of Wyandotte. The company's vast number of routes were based off of
three trunk lines along Gratiot, West Jefferson and Woodward Avenues, with various alternate, local and limited routes
branching off the main lines. Great Lakes' 104 buses and three garages were purchased for $2.2 million, with
SEMTA taking over operations effective April 1, 1974. Although most former Great Lakes routes were assigned route
numbers prefixed with the letter "G", its Roseville garage operation was reassigned to the Lake Shore division, and
the Wyandotte operation moved to the Metropolitan division. The remaining routes now formed SEMTA's new Great
Lakes Division.
The last and smallest of the suburban operators purchased by SEMTA was the Martin Lines, which serviced Royal
Oak into Detroit and Highland Park. The company's 19 buses and two routes were purchased for $345,000, with
SEMTA operation beginning March 20, 1975. SEMTA was also able to acquire the company's five-state Interstate
Commerce Commission (ICC) charter license, which it would continue to utilize for its interstate chartered service
operation. With the acquisition of Martin Lines, SEMTA's suburban consolidation program had now been completed.
Consequently, a number of the smaller suburban transit companies which were never purchased, including Port
Huron Transit Company, DeLuxe Motor Stages and Northville Coach Line, would either go out of business or
eventually leave the transit bus business. Meanwhile, subsidies were provided to a number of out-state intercity bus
companies to operate routes between smaller cities further outside the Detroit city limits.
Of course, number one on the SEMTA priority list of bus system acquisitions was the city of Detroit's, 1,040-coach
fleet, Department of Street Railways (DSR). But that would become a task easier said than done. Although
negotiations on the sale of the DSR appeared somewhat optimistic by late 1973, things would take a major turn in
another direction upon the arrival of a newly elected city administration that would take office in January of 1974.
© 2011 – www.DetroitTransitHistory.info (PV 03-01-11)
The above article was complied from information gathered from various Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News newspaper articles
supplied by Stan Sycko; and from miscellaneous Jack E. Schramm MCA articles on the history of SEMTA and SMART, and on Detroit
suburban buses. Additional sources include, the 1977 SEMTA Annual Report; the August 10, 1972 edition of the Grosse Pointe News;
and the EH.net online article "Urban Mass Transit In The United States"
For a more detailed account on the history of both SEMTA and SMART, along with the history of the Pontiac Bus System, see the
October-December 2003 edition of Motor Coach Age magazine.
supplied by Stan Sycko; and from miscellaneous Jack E. Schramm MCA articles on the history of SEMTA and SMART, and on Detroit
suburban buses. Additional sources include, the 1977 SEMTA Annual Report; the August 10, 1972 edition of the Grosse Pointe News;
and the EH.net online article "Urban Mass Transit In The United States"
For a more detailed account on the history of both SEMTA and SMART, along with the history of the Pontiac Bus System, see the
October-December 2003 edition of Motor Coach Age magazine.
| FOR "SEMTA HISTORY: THE MOVE AWAY FROM REGIONAL TRANSIT" SEE: PART-II |
Return to original version web-page: http://www.detroittransithistory.info/Misc/SEMTAHistory1.html