The politicians joked and generally went to great lengths to be civil during a Detroit Free Press Breakfast Club Series talk on regional transit Tuesday morning in Birmingham.

There was even a mention of a shrimp pasta dinner cooked recently for the others by Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter.

But in the end, the regional divide surfaced once again.

The late L. Brooks Patterson is gone in Oakland County, replaced by Coulter’s pro-regional transit voice, so the dynamic to watch was Mark Hackel, the Macomb County executive, bantering with the others: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Coulter, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jason Morgan.

The tension came near the end of the more than hour-long discussion and Q&A over breakfast at the Townsend Hotel, but it was telling.

Duggan pressed Hackel for help in the latest transit initiative, a state House bill that would allow communities that want to support more robust transit to get it.

“I will not be a deterrent,” Hackel said, noting that it would be tougher to get local county commissioners to sign off on such a measure than folks in Lansing.

“So go testify for us,” Duggan challenged, noting Hackel's support for previous transit legislation, as the packed conference room erupted in laughter and clapping.

Hackel, however, is intent on not being the bad guy here, and he took pains to note that he’s not standing in the way, it’s just that transit, or at least additional tax money for transit, isn’t what his county is focused on, he said.

The regional transit dream for southeast Michigan came close to passing in 2016, but it still lost in Oakland County and was crushed in Macomb County. Explanations for the 2016 failure, a multibillion dollar effort that would have connected all four counties in a system that expressly prevented individual communities from opting out, ranged from complaints that the plan didn’t offer enough to all parts of the region to the anti-tax reaction of voters who helped send Donald Trump to the White House.

Hackel pointed out that Macomb County is all-in on the current regional SMART bus system. In fact, it’s the only county to be in that position.

"We aren't the outlier," he said, asserting that Macomb isn't trying to prevent transit from happening.

But SMART, despite widespread praise for its recently installed FAST express bus routes on Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan, still can’t adequately serve the region, even though it works more cohesively in conjunction with the Detroit Department of Transportation now than it has perhaps ever, or at least in recent memory. Those opt-outs — a bizarre highlight of this region’s dysfunction — mean a wealthy community on a key corridor, such as Bloomfield Hills, doesn't pay for the SMART system and therefore isn’t part of it.

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Coulter, Duggan, Evans and Morgan are supporting a bill in the state Legislature that would amend the Municipal Partnership Act of 2011. The proposal, as previously reported by the Free Press, would allow parts of the region that want in on expanded transit to take part. If Macomb wants out, then Macomb can stay out. If Macomb wants in at some point, it can join. The measure apparently needs a push to get it through the Legislature, which was what prompted the Duggan and Hackel exchange.

The group noted that the effort is not actually a transit plan, which would still have to be finalized, and they pointed to misinformation as a likely source of reports that 5 mills would be required to pay for it. Duggan suggested that something in the range of 1.5 mills would probably work. Coulter noted that 1.4 mills is "out there."

The stakes for transit are high, those in favor agreed. The population is getting older. Younger people aren’t focused like prior generations on getting their licenses. Amazon, it was noted, passed up Detroit for its second headquarters in part because of transit issues, although critics have been skeptical that the online retailer and delivery giant ever seriously intended to consider cities like Detroit.

“Our region isn’t growing, and our peer regions are,” said Coulter, noting that some of the opposition to the current legislation comes from parts of northern Oakland County.

He called transit a moral issue and noted that 40% of workers in Oakland County don't live in Oakland County.

“What kind of a region do we want to build?” Duggan asked, pointing to places like Denver and Columbus, Ohio, which are focused on better mass transit. Coulter would add Indianapolis and Pittsburgh to the list, noting that transit investment is key to attracting young people.

Evans noted that Detroit's population has fallen significantly over the years, although it's once again a popular destination.

“Millennials want transit, and Detroit is the place to be now for social things and other sorts of things and they want to come down to Detroit,” Evans said. “Now, you can make them drive down and pay $20 for parking and force them to move or you can give them the opportunity to come in through transit, see what’s here and still stay in the communities that they live in. All of these factors are important to regional growth.”

Morgan, a fresh face in regional politics and the lone representative of the millennial generation among the group, said people want more innovative ideas related to transit. He noted that even though “we love” the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority, the system covers only part of Washtenaw County, meaning many residents remain unserved by transit.

The nature of what a future regional transit system might look like was mentioned but not the focus of the discussion. Although some seemed to envision future transit needs buoyed by autonomous cars and focused less on rail and bus, Coulter said buses would be part of any comprehensive transit plan. It’s a position supported by most transit advocates.

The Breakfast Club Series, moderated by Free Press columnist and "Michigan Matters" host and senior producer Carol Cain, is an occasional speakers event highlighting topics of interest in southeast Michigan.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com or (313) 223-4272. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.

More transit talk

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter will speak about their visions for transit next week at Transportation Riders United's annual State of Transit event. Here are the details:

The State of Transit: Then, Now, and Into the Future, 5:30 p.m.-8 p.m., Jan. 30, TechTown Detroit, 440 Burroughs St., Detroit 48202. Donations are suggested but not required.

To RSVP, go to http://www.detroittransit.org/