Oakland County leader wants rapid bus service on Woodward

The big picture: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is an advanced bus system that's quicker, more reliable and more efficient. It can include dedicated lanes, timed traffic lights and enhanced platforms and stations, and is being considered to help Southeast Michigan improve its lacking public transportation options.

• It's grown more popular over the past 20 years as cities look for cheaper ways to improve transit.

What they're saying: "It's not new technology … it's just new to Michigan," Coulter told Axios during the Mackinac Policy Conference, citing Cleveland and Indianapolis. He added that it can feel like rail travel, but is less expensive.

• "I think that is very likely at some point. How soon is hard to say," Megan Owens, director of transit advocacy nonprofit Transportation Riders United, tells Axios. "A lot of Woodward is very wide, there's a lot of space … But the question is where the funding would come from."

Catch up quick: Though there's no dedicated lane, Detroit's bus department expedited bus service to every 10 minutes on Jefferson Avenue last year and will begin on Grand River Avenue in June, city transit director Robert Cramer tells Axios.

• The Regional Transit Authority and Michigan transit department are analyzing BRT as a priority, and the region recently applied for a federal BRT grant, though it didn't get it.

• Plus, now, getting federal funding for transit is less likely under President Trump.

The bottom line: "I think that Woodward and several other corridors in the city, and connecting to the suburbs, would all benefit from having improved levels of service and investment in transit, because it's really important to attracting and maintaining residents and economic development," Cramer says.