Transportation in the Detroit Metropolitan Area

Madonna Van Fossen is the Oakland County Ombudsman for SMART, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation.  SMART is the public transportation system that services Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and a portion of Monroe County.  She has been with SMART for 8 years.

In her role as Ombudsman she serves as a liaison/resource to communities, County and State governing agencies, organizations, and individuals within Oakland County, regarding public transportation and SMART.

One of the things she enjoys about this position is being able to educate people about the value of public transportation.  She has been known to describe her job as ‘she gets paid to talk to people and since she’s “a talker” this job has served her well. She loves her job!

Madonna also serves on the Troy Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; the Oakland University Kresge Library Board of Directors and the Forester Square Homeowners Association Board of Directors.

Other positions Madonna has held during her career at SMART include:

• Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) Advisory Board
• MI Career Quest Executive Board member and Planning Committee
• MI Works Workforce Development Committee
• Oakland County Business Roundtable Economic Development Committee
• Oakland County Business Roundtable Transportation Committee
• Oakland County Homeless Healthcare Coalition Transportation Taskforce
• Troy Medi-Go Board of Directors                  

Prior to SMART she was the Executive Director for the Oxford Downtown Development Authority (DDA) for 5 ½ years.

She lives in Auburn Hills, is mother to 4 children – 3 sons and 1 daughter and “honeygramma” to 4 grandchildren ranging in ages from 2 to 10 years old and she has a 5 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback, named Lala.