DETROIT, MI -- A crowd of young activists gathered at a busy intersection at the dividing line between Wayne and Oakland counties Saturday to demonstrate for regional transit.

The demonstrators said they want to pressure leaders who are in the process of appointing a regional transit authority for Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties into creating a "truly regional" system.

"We want them to be open and transparent in that process." said Luke Allen, 25, lead organizer for the Metro Coalition of Congregations, which gathered area youths for demonstration at Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road.

The group, while enthusiastic about the authority finally being created after 40 years of failed efforts, fears new transit lines will continue to run within county or municipal boundaries, rather than across the region.

"These are all young adults who, a lot of the them, live in the suburbs and work in the city or live in the city and work in the suburbs and we want them to be able to get back and forth a lot easier.

"If that doesn't happen, we're going to have a lot of the brain drain we've been seeing."

Katherine Mills of Troy, a 26-year-old Oakland University student who demonstrated, said she previously lived in France and in Indiana, where functional transit systems made life easier.

"It makes starting a life somewhere a lot easier," she said.

"We want the whole region to be connected. Not just Detroit or Troy."

Joel Batterman, transportation programs coordinator for the nonprofit Michigan Suburbs Alliance, said that while hurdles on the state level were cleared when the legislature approved creation of the authority last month, it's now up to Metro Detroit to keep the pressure on of residents want a comprehensive system.

"Now it's really up to the region for the county executives and the mayors to really support regional transit and make it reality."

Follow Khalil AlHajal on Twitter @DetroitKhalil or on Facebook at Khalil MLive. He can be reached at kalhajal@mlive.com or 313-643-0527.