Free Federal Money May Doom a Transit Center in Troy

For the past few years the small city of Troy, Michigan, has looked forward to the completion of an $8.5 million multi-modal transit center. Plans call for replacing the current Amtrak station — which "consists of a platform and small shelter," according to the Troy Patch — with a multi-modal facility for travel by intercity rail, regional bus, and local taxi (and maybe car and bike rental), as well as a potential future connection to a proposed light rail system [PDF]. Amtrak would continue to serve the station, which in time could become part of the a Detroit-Chicago high-speed rail line. Proponents of the center believe it will turn Troy into a legitimate regional transportation hub.

After years of planning the transit center is on pace to open in October 2013. That is, it was on pace until this year's mayoral election. The winner of that race was tea party activist Janice Daniels, who campaigned against the transit project. Daniels doesn't like the idea of accepting a $8.5 million federal grant to fund the center, considering the country's growing budget deficit. Some members of the Troy business community are behind her, including local C.E.O. Ron Wilson, who told the Detroit Free Press, in a quote worthy of the novel Catch-22: "The City of Troy cannot afford this $8.5 million of free money."