Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday urged metro Detroit leaders to reach a consensus on putting a regional transit plan before voters in November, calling Southeast Michigan "one of the worst areas in the country for regionalism."

Speaking at the Detroit Regional Chamber's "State of the State" event, the outgoing Republican governor said regional mass transportation is needed to help workers get to job-training and educational opportunities as well as work.

"We do need to get a regional transit authority going," Snyder said during a luncheon at the MGM Grand Detroit. "There's no question about it."

Snyder suggested regional leaders in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties should work on a smaller mass transit plan that all four counties can agree on.

"At this point, don't aim for the perfect," Snyder said. "Find what you agree on and get that going."

Bob Riney, chief operating officer for Henry Ford Health System, asked Snyder at the luncheon if he could take on the issue of regional transit after tackling other "vexing" issues.

For the nearly 30,000-employee system of hospitals, Riney said, the region's lack of reliable and seamless mass transportation options has become a deterrent to recruiting doctors, nurses, radiologists and other hospital personnel to work and live in metro Detroit.

"We're at a strategic disadvantage, and we can't afford to be," Riney told Crain's.

For Snyder's last full year in office, the chamber's event centered on the businessman-turned-governor's accomplishments and unfinished business in talent development and infrastructure.