Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter has named a transportation manager with more than 35 years of professional transportation planning, programming, and policy experience as the county’s first transit manager. Eli Cooper will oversee the implementation of countywide public transportation made possible by Oakland County voters who approved a $68 million transit millage last November.
“Eli is recognized as an innovative and experienced transportation leader with a proven track record of leading the development and implementation of new ideas and programs,” Coulter said. “He has the background and know-how to help lead Oakland County through the next steps of making public transportation available in all four corners of the county.”
Cooper will collaborate with transit providers, local communities, the public and other stakeholders to bring public transportation options to all corners of the county. He will also ensure accountability for all millage proceeds, reporting to both county executive administration and the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, including leveraging state and federal resources to expand public transportation.
Among his initial tasks as manager of the Transit Division in the Department of Economic Development will be to hire two transit planners.
“There’s no better opportunity than to come to Oakland County and work with our transportation providers, local communities, residents and stakeholders to ensure public transportation options are available everywhere in the county,” Cooper said. “Together, we will build a transit system
that serves the needs of all of our residents and businesses.”
Cooper was the transportation program manager in Ann Arbor for more than 17 years. Prior to that, his transportation career had stops in Puget Sound Regional Council in Seattle, Wash. as director of transportation planning; the Metropolitan Council in St. Paul, Minn. as director of planning and growth management; the Delaware Department of Transportation as director of intermodal programs; and in New Jersey as the executive director of Cross County Connection Transportation Management Association. He began his career in 1985.
Cooper has a master of urban planning degree from Hunter College at the City University of New York and a bachelor of science in environmental science from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. He has several professional certifications including American Planning Association’s American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and ones for bus rapid transit from the National Transit Institute, market research for the transit industry, and statewide intermodal planning from the Federal Highway Administration.
In conjunction with SMART, an upcoming planning process to determine future public transportation needs in Oakland County will include public engagement with residents, businesses, and local officials; survey infrastructure needs and state and federal grant opportunities, and analyze market trends, transportation patterns, and costs and efficiencies. To learn more, go to www.oakgov.com/OaklandTransit.
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