Public transit services will not be reduced in Scio Township, located just west of Ann Arbor.

Many residents spoke out against previously proposed reductions in bus services provided by the Western-Washtenaw Area Value Express (WAVE) that could have eliminated published bus stops and limited door-to-door services.

But township officials decided against making any changes to services provided by both WAVE and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), also known as TheRide.

Instead, WAVE service will continue to include all currently published bus stops, and residents will still be able to use door-to-door services from the township to anywhere in Washtenaw County.

The township Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday, Aug. 25, to renew year-long transit services contracts with both providers at current levels with no cuts. Those will renew at the beginning of October and be in place through the end of September 2027.

The township board’s vote was in line with a recommendation from the township Multimodal Transit Committee. The committee was tasked with considering ways to cut costs amid a shortfall in a local property tax levy for public transportation and rising costs.

Cuts or reductions to transit services faced pushback, with residents concerned about long walks to bus stops and difficulties getting to jobs, healthcare services and other needs. Opponents were also concerned about people with disabilities and older adults.

“The cost in terms of stress, inconvenience, and outright denial of services to those who need public transportation in Scio Township is very high,” Mary Gillis said at the Aug. 25 meeting.

Gillis, the township newsletter editor who is running as a Democrat for a partial-term township trustee seat, also said the funding gap is less than what was originally feared.

“Let’s not make a change to the level of service we currently provide. Given our environmental and human concerns, we should be seeking ways to enlarge bus service across the township. That doesn’t seem to be possible in the current environment, but let’s at least not decrease service,” she said.

The township millage shortfall currently amounts to nearly $250,000, with WAVE and TheRide projected to cost the township more than $877,000. Previously proposed reductions to WAVE service were estimated to save the township more than $52,000 but would not have covered the entire shortfall.

The committee considered a few different options for WAVE and TheRide services. Eliminating TheRide’s Route 30 service, which also faced pushback, could have saved the township an estimated $565,780, according to the committee. In addition, discontinuing WAVE door-to-door and Community Connector services had been projected to save $143,700.

“The committee has received over 300 emails that express overwhelming support for the AAATA Route 30 and WAVE transit services. The committee was struck by the stories of riders and families that rely on these services as a lifeline to employment, medical care, groceries, etc.,” the committee said in an Aug. 20 report.

Most recently, the township had been considering eliminating published bus stops on WAVE’s Jackson Road Connector route in the Parkland Plaza area that serve Sunward Cohousing, Great Oak Cohousing, Touchstone Cohousing, Lakestone Apartments and the University of Michigan West Ann Arbor Health Center.

Published stops at a Menards store and at Willow Tree Lane and Staebler Road could have also been eliminated, but riders could still request in advance a “deviation” for the Connector to pick up or drop off at those locations.

The Jackson Road Connector would have been reduced to three published stops in the township: Woodview Commons and Scio Farms on the western end of the township and Meijer, where people can transfer to TheRide’s route 30 bus.

As for the Parkland Plaza area, those would be outside of the deviation zone and riders would not be able to request rides from the Jackson Road Connector from that area.

In addition, changes to WAVE’s Community Connector weekend schedule were proposed. Published stops in the Parkland Plaza neighborhood, Menards and at Willow Tree Lane and Staebler Road would have been eliminated.

The service, which travels between Chelsea, Dexter and Scio Township, would have been reduced to four published stops at Meijer, near the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on North Zeeb Road and at Scio Farms and Woodview Commons.

Under the previously proposed changes, WAVE would have only been able to take people door-to-door to locations designated as “rural” by the U.S. Census.

Shasta Angell, a community relations coordinator for WAVE, previously said representatives with WAVE and TheRide had met with Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, officials to discuss options for covering Scio Township with available millage funds.

MDOT informed them the township from Baker and Jackson roads east is actually classified as urban and WAVE should not be running on that part of Jackson Road because it is a rural service, while TheRide services urban areas.

MDOT allowed the township the option to maintain WAVE services that already exist in the township, but the township is not allowed to increase WAVE services. If the township had approved a decrease in services, officials would not have been allowed to add them back in the future.

Looking toward the long-term financials, the township is likely to ask local voters to approve an increase in the local tax levy for transit services.

“I think the only solutions for this is an increase in millage,” township Trustee David Read said.

The township has also asked Washtenaw County officials if it can claw back $300,000 of the more than $1.8 million in captured tax levies being returned to the county following the dissolution of Scio Township’s downtown development authority last summer. The township had originally asked for those funds to keep TheRide’s bus route 30 service to Meijer.

Township Treasurer Ryan Yaple said he continues to have conversations with Washtenaw County administration about getting the township’s request on a future agenda of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

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