LaHood promised M1 the $25 million last summer if the group satisfied his concerns about how it would be funded and operated in the long term and if the state approved a regional transit agency (RTA) for metro Detroit.

This morning, at's Welcome Center, LaHood delivered on that promise -- and said the RTA's bus rapid transit project would get $6.5 million in planning funds from the

"This is not a dribble. This is a good amount to start with (for the RTA)," said John Hertel, general manager of the(SMART) system and the former regional transit czar whose plans became the foundation of the bus rapid transit proposal.

The RTA, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder at the start of the year, will oversee a proposed $500 million, 110-mile rapid-transit regional bus system with 23 stops that would operate much like a rail line, using specialized, train-like buses with dedicated lanes. The buses would run along Gratiot, Woodward and Michigan avenues and M-59 and would connect to Ann Arbor andin Romulus.

Word that LaHood's funding announcement would come this week was first reported by Crain's last week.

Among the dignitaries who spoke at the Welcome Center were both of Michigan's U.S. senators, Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, Gary Peters and John Dingell,CEO Rip Rapson, M1 Co-Chairman andfounder Roger Penske and Wayne State President Allan Gilmour.

The speakers largely thanked each other and anyone involved in the M1 and RTA projects, with several calling the day "historic" and noting that mass transit will act as a major economic development catalyst for the city and region.

Praise was also heaped on the business community.