By Madeleine Graham

The Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) recently announced the opening of the J. Michael Zelley Center for Training and Development at 1700 S. Dort Highway. The facility will serve as a training site for employees and new hires on the guidelines of the American Disabilities Act (ADA).

MTA CEO Ed Benning noted that he met the building’s namesake, Mike Zelley, in the 1990s after Zelley had founded The Disability Network (TDN), a local nonprofit that supports community members with disabilities in living as independently as possible.

Zelley’s lifelong work on behalf of people with disabilities followed a car accident that left him paralyzed. He began advocating, founding TDN in 1989, and even addressed Congress about the difficulties facing individuals with disabilities who wanted to work.

Benning said he and Zelley would often talk about transportation concerns for Genesee County residents with disabilities, as Zelley’s motto had always been “nothing about us without us.” 

(From left) Lana Zelley, the wife of J. Michael Zelley, their granddaughter Rachel, sons Luke and Mark Zelley, and MTA CEO Ed Benning at the opening of the J. Michael Zelley Training and Development Center on June 26, 2025. (Photo by Madeleine Graham)

Though Zelley passed away three years ago, his son, Luke Zelley, was present at the facility’s dedication ceremony on June 26, 2025. The younger Zelley is the current president of TDN and MTA Board Chair. He said that his dad had brought a “unique perspective” to each opportunity to remove barriers for individuals with disabilities, and he estimated his father’s work supported over 30 policy changes during his lifetime.

The J. Michael Zelley Center features two large classrooms that can hold 21 people each, according to Jeff Brown, Training Coordinator of MTA, who added that city buses take from six to eight weeks to learn.

Atop operations training, all drivers also must be trained on all aspects of the ADA, including boarding and deboarding, and must receive service maintenance training beyond regular training, explained Benning. All dispatchers must be trained in ADA requirements as well.

Benning also noted that atop instruction in ADA and compliance measures, the J. Michael Zelley center will provide sensitivity training and simulated training units for driving public transit vehicles in a real world environment. Further, the center will also serve as a training location for Lapeer and Shiawassee transport and the Michigan Department of Transportation, said Benning, who added “which is a nice thing to add to services already being provided.”