Canton Township reviews Western Wayne transit study, residents and businesses push for airport and Ford Road connections
January 14, 2026 | Canton Township, Wayne County, Michigan
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Canton Township trustees and planning commissioners met in a joint study session to review OHM Advisors’ Western Wayne County transit planning work and community outreach as Wayne County prepares a countywide SMART millage proposal for August 2026.
The presentation, led by Adrianna Jordan, project manager for OHM Advisors, outlined the study’s scope, existing-conditions analysis and community engagement to date. Jordan said the work responds to a recent change in state law (PA 36 to the Public Transportation Authority Act) that removes the local opt-out and allows longer millage terms; Wayne County officials are reportedly considering a 10‑year, countywide renewal of the SMART millage comparable to the 0.994‑mill rate currently in place for some communities.
OHM described a consortium of seven Western Wayne communities — Canton Township, City of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, City of Northville, Northville Township, Van Buren Township and City of Westland — working to align local priorities with SMART and regional partners. The firm has been coordinating with SMART and attended stakeholder sessions (Oct. 8, Nov. 7 and Dec. 17) while conducting an independent existing-conditions review and public outreach.
Jordan said Canton’s summer public survey attracted 935 responses (508 from Canton, 255 from Plymouth-area ZIP codes and about 37 likely from Van Buren-area ZIP codes). The survey skewed older: about 25% of respondents were 65 or older (roughly 45% were 55+). Responses showed a strong preference for fixed-route service in Canton and high interest in live vehicle tracking and covered, lighted shelters to improve personal security at stops. OHM also reported 1,185 destination stickers collected at pop-up events across the consortium; in Canton the airport and Ann Arbor were the top requested regional destinations.
The consultant contrasted Canton's general-public survey with SMART’s targeted stakeholder survey, noting SMART’s outreach sampled groups more likely to already use transit and gave higher relative support to demand-response and microtransit. Jordan emphasized the discrepancy and said OHM and the consortium are forwarding their outreach materials to SMART to ensure local priorities — including the airport connection that many Canton residents flagged — are considered in the countywide rollout.
OHM’s maps and data layers showed that among the consortium only Westland currently has fixed-route service and that job concentrations along Ford Road and at Ann Arbor Road/Haggerty create demand corridors. Jordan flagged pockets of higher transit need in Canton — including higher densities of seniors, youth, individuals with disabilities, zero‑car households and unemployed residents — that could justify fixed-route or mixed-mode services along commercial corridors.
The presentation included findings from a short business survey (34 responses, two from Canton) in which employers emphasized convenience and reliability; businesses favored microtransit or express/frequent services to support employee recruitment and retention. Transportation Steering Committee (TSC) polling of consortium representatives prioritized airport connections, shuttle service to Detroit, and links to Ann Arbor, with Ford Road and downtowns of Plymouth and Northville commonly cited as candidate fixed-route priorities.
Attendees asked about cross-county connections (Ann Arbor, Amtrak, Washtenaw County services) and how to make transit technology accessible to people with vision impairments or other disabilities. Jordan said the study team will consider readable and audibly accessible wayfinding, multilingual information, ADA stop improvements and design approaches that go beyond traditional hub-and-spoke routing to better serve caregivers and trip-chaining needs. OHM outlined next steps: finish round‑one engagement analysis, prepare an existing-conditions technical memo, hold additional TSC meetings in March and May, a second round of public engagement in April, and more board and commission meetings through June.
The study session closed with an invitation for continued input as SMART develops its draft plan; OHM staff said they will try to provide materials to township leaders before a Feb. 13 regional meeting and will continue sharing outreach results with SMART and consortium partners. The meeting adjourned by voice vote.
Sources: Presentation and Q&A at the Canton Township joint study session; OHM Advisors’ summary of outreach and existing-conditions analysis.
The presentation, led by Adrianna Jordan, project manager for OHM Advisors, outlined the study’s scope, existing-conditions analysis and community engagement to date. Jordan said the work responds to a recent change in state law (PA 36 to the Public Transportation Authority Act) that removes the local opt-out and allows longer millage terms; Wayne County officials are reportedly considering a 10‑year, countywide renewal of the SMART millage comparable to the 0.994‑mill rate currently in place for some communities.
OHM described a consortium of seven Western Wayne communities — Canton Township, City of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, City of Northville, Northville Township, Van Buren Township and City of Westland — working to align local priorities with SMART and regional partners. The firm has been coordinating with SMART and attended stakeholder sessions (Oct. 8, Nov. 7 and Dec. 17) while conducting an independent existing-conditions review and public outreach.
Jordan said Canton’s summer public survey attracted 935 responses (508 from Canton, 255 from Plymouth-area ZIP codes and about 37 likely from Van Buren-area ZIP codes). The survey skewed older: about 25% of respondents were 65 or older (roughly 45% were 55+). Responses showed a strong preference for fixed-route service in Canton and high interest in live vehicle tracking and covered, lighted shelters to improve personal security at stops. OHM also reported 1,185 destination stickers collected at pop-up events across the consortium; in Canton the airport and Ann Arbor were the top requested regional destinations.
The consultant contrasted Canton's general-public survey with SMART’s targeted stakeholder survey, noting SMART’s outreach sampled groups more likely to already use transit and gave higher relative support to demand-response and microtransit. Jordan emphasized the discrepancy and said OHM and the consortium are forwarding their outreach materials to SMART to ensure local priorities — including the airport connection that many Canton residents flagged — are considered in the countywide rollout.
OHM’s maps and data layers showed that among the consortium only Westland currently has fixed-route service and that job concentrations along Ford Road and at Ann Arbor Road/Haggerty create demand corridors. Jordan flagged pockets of higher transit need in Canton — including higher densities of seniors, youth, individuals with disabilities, zero‑car households and unemployed residents — that could justify fixed-route or mixed-mode services along commercial corridors.
The presentation included findings from a short business survey (34 responses, two from Canton) in which employers emphasized convenience and reliability; businesses favored microtransit or express/frequent services to support employee recruitment and retention. Transportation Steering Committee (TSC) polling of consortium representatives prioritized airport connections, shuttle service to Detroit, and links to Ann Arbor, with Ford Road and downtowns of Plymouth and Northville commonly cited as candidate fixed-route priorities.
Attendees asked about cross-county connections (Ann Arbor, Amtrak, Washtenaw County services) and how to make transit technology accessible to people with vision impairments or other disabilities. Jordan said the study team will consider readable and audibly accessible wayfinding, multilingual information, ADA stop improvements and design approaches that go beyond traditional hub-and-spoke routing to better serve caregivers and trip-chaining needs. OHM outlined next steps: finish round‑one engagement analysis, prepare an existing-conditions technical memo, hold additional TSC meetings in March and May, a second round of public engagement in April, and more board and commission meetings through June.
The study session closed with an invitation for continued input as SMART develops its draft plan; OHM staff said they will try to provide materials to township leaders before a Feb. 13 regional meeting and will continue sharing outreach results with SMART and consortium partners. The meeting adjourned by voice vote.
Sources: Presentation and Q&A at the Canton Township joint study session; OHM Advisors’ summary of outreach and existing-conditions analysis.
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