Livingston County is experiencing change on several fronts. As one of the fastest growing counties in Michigan, it has added more than 5,000 residents since 2010 and is projected to reach a population of more than 240,000 people by 2045. The County’s population is also aging: individuals 65 years old and up currently account for 17 percent of the population, and 40 percent of today’s population will be at least 65 in the next 10 years. The current public transportation option for traveling within the County is through Livingston Essential Transportation Service (LETS), a County department that provides dial-a-ride services. While LETS is available to the general public, its services are often overbooked. With these demographic changes and transit system conditions comes an opportunity to assess how transportation options might better serve those who are traveling into, within, and out of the County.
The Livingston County Transit Master Plan took a comprehensive look at existing demographic, employment, travel pattern, and transit conditions; previous plans and studies; and public and stakeholder input to determine what transit system enhancements can be made to improve the quality of life in the County. With this information as a foundation, the Plan presents a set of actions to be taken in the short, mid, and long term to work towards a set of goals that capture what the County’s transportation system is envisioned to be, along with a framework for funding and governance to achieve their implementation.
The Transit Master Plan seeks to optimize the existing transit system to better serve today’s transit users, but also acknowledges that limited needs can be met with the resources that LETS has. The broader needs of the County’s changing population may be more effectively met with transportation services that are not currently available. Therefore, the Plan is also meant to address these existing gaps in service provision.
Many of the Plan’s actions target the County’s highest transit demand areas with the purpose of sufficiently building out services to provide adequate service to the outermost areas of the County.
The Livingston County Transit Master Plan will serve as a tool to assist decision-makers in adjusting Livingston County’s public transportation system to meet the community’s present and future needs.