A bill has been introduced in the state house to waive the state park recreation passport sticker fee for public transit buses.
To enter a state park in Michigan, vehicles are required to have a recreation passport sticker.
The cost is $11 at the time of the renewal of your license plate tag.
Republican State Representative Beau LaFave introduced House Bill 4463 to eliminate that fee for public transit vehicles dropping off passengers.
He said he introduced the measure after the Delta Area Transit Authority manager told him they have to purchase stickers for all 16 vehicles in their fleet.
“These passport fees, I think are silly to begin with but certainly shouldn’t be charging them to transportation companies,” LaFave said.
Chief of Parks and Recreation for the Department of Natural Resources, Ron Olson said it’s not necessary to change the law because the DNR already has accommodations for public transportation.
He said on Belle Isle in Detroit, there has been an arrangement with public transportation vehicles to enter without a passport sticker for three years.
“At this present time, we believe the problem that is trying to be solved is solvable by using already existing permittance mechanisms that we already have,” Olson said.
In the interest of transparency, we note that the Department of Natural Resources is a financial supporter of WCMU.
