Grand Rapids-people vote in tiny millage, save thousands by going #carfree

Students board The Rapid's DASH to the Hill bus. The free route serves Grand Rapids' growing 'Medical Mile' and several colleges nearby.

Lindsey Smith / Michigan Radio

Grand Rapids-area bus system improvements begin today | Michigan Radio: "The Rapid busses start a new schedule Monday that will better serve riders late at night, on the weekends, and more frequently during the workday. The bus service is improving thanks to a millage voters passed back in May.

Grand Rapids resident Mike Ewer and his wife don’t have a car anymore. He says about a year and a half ago both of their cars broke down within a span of two months. “We just said ‘well, we get about okay on the bus so why are we spending money on cars, on maintenance, taxes, gas, insurance and all that stuff?’ So we said ‘let’s just ride the bus.”"

Anti-transit agenda chasing economic development out of Troy

It seems like the present generation of conservative political leadership is against mass transit for no reason other than because most liberals are for it. Certainly it can't be because of the things that conservatives stand for in theory, such as a subsidy-free society, or championing the cause of business, that conservatives would favor car culture over mass transit. Here in Michigan, we have Troy mayor Janice Daniels, elected on a Tea Party platform, and determined to make a name for herself as an incendiary firebrand for whatever causes that implies. Naturally, when it came time for the Troy City Council to vote on a new transit center, it would be charitable to call the objections NIMBY—the rhetoric was bordering on that of social cleansing. For example:

Councilman Wade Fleming said he had "reluctantly" supported the transit center, but now he's unsure. "I'm trying to evaluate the merit of it," he said. Fleming said he worries the 24-hour center could lead to more crime. "It could be a place where people who don't have another place to go hang out," he said. "If that's the case, it's going to require more police."

Mass transit is a key part of future economic development in this area, and the actions of the local government are alienating, among others, major players in the local business community:

Magna International is so disappointed with Troy leaders that manager Frank Ervin stated in the letter he is recommending their company no longer consider the city of for future job creation.

h/t Eric B.

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Tea Party hacks are Oil industry agents

Oakland County | New mayor, council members try to halt Troy transit facility | The Detroit News: "Troy— After a decade of planning, a transit center tying together train, bus, taxi and future light rail service in Troy appeared to be near fruition this fall.
The facility is supposed to open by October 2013, but a shakeup at City Hall has put construction in doubt. Mayor Janice Daniels, elected last month on a tea party platform, and several City Council members want Troy to halt the project, forfeiting $8.4 million in federal funds and ownership of the 3-acre site."

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30 years of #transit projects shovel-ready. See the map.

Mapped: How Federal Funding Fails to Match Demand for Transit in the U.S. | Streetsblog Capitol Hill: "Reconnecting America found strong demand for transit projects around the country but a dearth of federal support for such projects. “There is a huge backlog of federal funding through the New Starts program,” the organization says. If all of the transit projects in this map were funded through the federal New Starts Program at the current spending rate, it would take 73 years to fund them all."

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Traffic avoiding traffic

It seems the killer app for your Garmin nüvi is something they call "traffic avoidance." If this isn't a textbook example of tragedy of the commons, I don't know what is.

Guest commentary: Public transportation can be life-changer for region | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Buses wait for passengers at the Rosa Park Transit Center in Detroit last week, following a work stoppage by bus drivers over safety concerns. / WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

Guest commentary: Public transportation can be life-changer for region | Detroit Free Press | freep.com: "Momentum is building toward creating a network of connected, convenient public transportation options throughout Michigan. Success will mean a huge and sustained injection of vitality to businesses, downtowns and hundreds of thousands of residents for whom alternatives to personal vehicle ownership are limited."

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