Jump to content

ITP - The Rapid


torgo

Recommended Posts

A co-worker of mine: Jane is a mom with three kids, one which is an infant, all three of them must go with her. Jane is afraid of the clientele that usually ride the Rapid, or as she puts it the 'ruffs,' 'homeless,' and 'blacks.' Those are her words. Sorry folks but that's the reality of the image on public transportation in Grand Rapids, especially if Jane has to take the Division route from 68th all the way to downtown to pick up her pair of glasses on Monroe. We shouldn't cater to Jane, especially when she won't ride the Rapid because of, "blacks," and the homeless. But seriously, to have The Rapid succeed in bringing in new customers it needs to have a PR campaign for a truer image that of which movies have successfully ruined. Commercials like the one Rapid plays on Wood TV is a good start, especially when the commercial shows a suburban woman in a subdivision hopping onto a bus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 185
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I liked the radio ads they had with the guy who sounded like a 1950's cop talking about meeting his lady on the Rapid. Those were good.

I also read the article about the hybrid buses. We're one of only a handful of cities that will be using the hybrids: NY, Seattle, Chicago and Minneapolis. If these two pilot buses work out, they may look at expanding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A co-worker of mine: Jane is a mom with three kids, one which is an infant, all three of them must go with her. Jane is afraid of the clientele that usually ride the Rapid, or as she puts it the 'ruffs,' 'homeless,' and 'blacks.' Those are her words. Sorry folks but that's the reality of the image on public transportation in Grand Rapids, especially if Jane has to take the Division route from 68th all the way to downtown to pick up her pair of glasses on Monroe. We shouldn't cater to Jane, especially when she won't ride the Rapid because of, "blacks," and the homeless. But seriously, to have The Rapid succeed in bringing in new customers it needs to have a PR campaign for a truer image that of which movies have successfully ruined. Commercials like the one Rapid plays on Wood TV is a good start, especially when the commercial shows a suburban woman in a subdivision hopping onto a bus.

Sorry if this comes off bad, but the image that The Rapid is full of rough people is not exactly fiction, and its understandable that Jane is afraid of some of the riders. (although being afraid of someone who is black or homeless just because they are black or homeless is stupid) For example, I personally know someone who was severely accosted for defending a young girl who was being harassed by a couple of boys, and have been witness to several situations that were uncomfortable say the least. :blink::unsure:

So let's call a spade a spade: Riding the bus isn't always a pleasant experience. I would say that most of the time it is just fine, but it only takes a couple of bad incidents for someone (who has the means) to decide they they don't want to ride anymore, especially when they have three children.

I agree that The Rapid needs a good PR camaign to improve th image of public transportation, and the commercial (I haven't seen it) sounds like a good start. I thought those "guy noir" radio ads they used to run were just terrible. I think such a PR campaign should involve three points: 1) The bus isn't as dirty and gross as you think; 2) at $40, a monthly pass is a heckuva lot cheaper than putting gas in your car; and 3) you just relax while someone else drives! ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very true andy. I think I didn't state my point correctly. Jane has a point, that is if the people riding were really bad folks and would take her kids. Her tone was mostly using blacks and homless as an excuse to not ride. I ride the Rapid without carring who's onboard because I'm usually big and bad looking so no one is going to stand to me. Alls I know is I can get a pass for 30 bucks to get me unlimited rides, thats a hell of a lot less then filling up a tank four times a month.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trick is to get rid of the assumptions people have now. The general thought is the buses are for people who can't afford to own a car. We need to change that to say the buses are an alternative to driving a car and a good alternative for anyone, rich or poor.

It really depends on the route as to the type of riders on the bus. The Division route is probably a bit rougher than say, the GVSU connector.

I suppose making friends with Rizzo might make us skinny weaklings feel better. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trick is to get rid of the assumptions people have now. The general thought is the buses are for people who can't afford to own a car. We need to change that to say the buses are an alternative to driving a car and a good alternative for anyone, rich or poor.

It really depends on the route as to the type of riders on the bus. The Division route is probably a bit rougher than say, the GVSU connector.

I suppose making friends with Rizzo might make us skinny weaklings feel better. :D

:lol: Yeah, my sister's boyfriend rode the GVSU connector from downtown all the time and he said he never had problems, even late at night. He'd ride it to visit my sister at Aquinas too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trick is to get rid of the assumptions people have now. The general thought is the buses are for people who can't afford to own a car. We need to change that to say the buses are an alternative to driving a car and a good alternative for anyone, rich or poor.

It really depends on the route as to the type of riders on the bus. The Division route is probably a bit rougher than say, the GVSU connector.

Very true. The idea that the bus is a "last option" needs to be erased so riding the bus is just an "option"

Yah, certain routes are rougher than others too, that's for sure. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ride the number 6 everyday and the people are just fine. Its a real mixed bag, but quite a few professionals seem to take this route.

Also regarding the type of people who take public transportation, here's a story from Boston:

In Boston most young professionals (including yours truly) take the Subway since rental/housing prices are higher closer to the Subway system and only richer people can afford those prices. The extensive Bus system serves a wider region that usually consists of lower income areas. Thus, it is a sad but well known fact that the buses are less well maintained than the Subways there. Additionally, I knew of several professional urban/suburban types in Boston who refused to take the bus even though they didn't mind the subway.

Also, certain subway lines were always more dangerous. The orange line which served Southie Boston etc. always had problems with crime, the ones serving Newton, Welseley, Cambridge (all the richer neighborhods) hardly had any crime. These are also the best maintained while the orange line (you guessed it) is the older and least maintained.

Sadly, this reflects a deeper problem with our society, not just Grand Rapids, though I do think that the RAPID can and should change its image.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ride the number 6 everyday and the people are just fine. Its a real mixed bag, but quite a few professionals seem to take this route.

Also regarding the type of people who take public transportation, here's a story from Boston:

In Boston most young professionals (including yours truly) take the Subway since rental/housing prices are higher closer to the Subway system and only richer people can afford those prices. The extensive Bus system serves a wider region that usually consists of lower income areas. Thus, it is a sad but well known fact that the buses are less well maintained than the Subways there. Additionally, I knew of several professional urban/suburban types in Boston who refused to take the bus even though they didn't mind the subway.

Also, certain subway lines were always more dangerous. The orange line which served Southie Boston etc. always had problems with crime, the ones serving Newton, Welseley, Cambridge (all the richer neighborhods) hardly had any crime. These are also the best maintained while the orange line (you guessed it) is the older and least maintained.

Sadly, this reflects a deeper problem with our society, not just Grand Rapids, though I do think that the RAPID can and should change its image.

Good points. The same is true here in terms of maintenance. Ride the Kalamazoo Ave Route (2?), then ride Route 50 (GVSU) and tell me which bus is kept cleaner. It ain't Route 2, thats for sure. That always annoyed me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, i'd like to see Grand Rapids sell off most of their great big buses (which usually seem to be more than half empty) and trade each of em for 2 or 3 smaller "hotel-shuttle" type buses or micro-vans. Every time i go to Mexico i am amazed at how much better their city bus services are than ours. Now i suppose increased driver wages would be an issue (more drivers), but fuel efficiency, aquisition & maintainance costs would probably come close to compensating. And the resulting increase in frequency (every 10-15 minutes or so) and ease of use could attract more people to use the system. Just my two cents worth...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Half empty? Be careful about using the half-empty argument. This is an exagerated and sometimes often used argument by anti-public transportation folks to turn away public support for a system. You have to remember that you are seeing a bus at the moment its enroute, a lot of people may have got off at their destination before you noticed it half empty and remember that it needs to go "upline to downtown or the central core to pick more folks up .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of the increase in the Rapid's ridership was due to the GVSU contracts, but the way I see it, the cool part about this is that it shows the college students, many of whom are from the suburbs, that riding the bus isn't so bad and maybe in a few years when they are commuting to work, it will be on the bus (or hopefully a light rail system)! :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^I just learned light-rail is off the table according to the Mayor of Kentwood, he said it was "no longer under consideration for various reasons, most of which are cost and right of way." I know Mayor Root has to have been in the "loop" with any form of transportation options, the system runs right through his city! I had no idea it was decided that busses or streetcar will be our mode in the next decade, but thats the concensus. For other reasons we won't be riding lightrails, but buses that are lower to the ground and look like "trains." I refuse to accept this as reality. I'm still writing letters and complaining about the subject. If you hope to ride rails, I suggest you write like crazy to the representatives, mayors, anyone in the public that represents you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rizzo, I think that has been the case for a while now. I think there are some very old links here:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...3&hl=streetcars

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...2&hl=streetcars

I think they are talking about doing a BRT system as the first step for anything in the foreseeable future. I had also posted a video presentation of how a BRT system might run:

http://www.nc3d.com/gallery/ltdbrt

I still haven't heard if the State has put forward any money to get the federal funding to get the study started. Maybe they can work that in to Granholm's "jobs" bill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Half empty? Be careful about using the half-empty argument. This is an exagerated and sometimes often used argument by anti-public transportation folks to turn away public support for a system. You have to remember that you are seeing a bus at the moment its enroute, a lot of people may have got off at their destination before you noticed it half empty and remember that it needs to go "upline to downtown or the central core to pick more folks up .

My "buses half-empty" statement was not a slam of public transportation. Far from it--i'd love to see Grand Rapids get a better system in place. But yes, i do think it's a fairly accurate statement. I'm sure they probably keep data on it-- but from what i've seen and experienced, (and yes, i live in the central core) buses only seem to come close to capacity during the typical morning and evening rush hour periods. The rest of the day they drive around often with just a handful of people in the great big buses. That just doesn't seem very efficient too me i guess. Which is where i throw out the shuttle bus idea--same capacity, greater frequency, costs likely similar, more flexibility to respond to demand. Has anyone traveled in Mexico and seen their system? Perhaps we could also loosen our taxi licensing standards and allow private operators to run passenger vans on designated, regular routes like their "collectivos".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guideway BRT is exaclty like lightrail or streetcar. Its guided. I don't understand why this would be the choice, you would still have to purchase ROWs and ROWs is one of the main reasons lightrail may not be comming here.

I believe ROW's for BRT are much less expensive because they are along existing streets. You also don't have to do imbedded tracks also. You'd have to do some more research for us to find out why the costs are so much greater for light rail than BRT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to throw the new bus station under the bus.... but

cut and paste this into the 2006 predictions thread, the rapid staging area has been the scene of

several fights and flat out brawls this past summer... more than I can count on my fingers.

The press is going to catch on to this if something is not done about it, and its going to be a...

black eye. The high school kiddies are doing a modern rendition of West Side Story there

the hour after they get out of school. Local cops refer to it as "babysitting hour".

And Lordy... how on earth do you build a bus terminal with a half dozen parking spaces out front

on the curb? The lot in front is for employees/future tenants. There IS a daily Greyhound schedule out of there. Buy ramps from devlopers, scrutinize parking code, build bus terminals with no parking.

Must be sunspots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.