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Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids


GRDadof3

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Residents of Hudsonville will be voting in May whether or not to join the Rapid:

http://www.mlive.com...ld_put_hud.html

A city survey last year found that 42 percent of residents would vote yes or lean toward voting yes on a 0.5-mill tax increase to fund public transit via The Rapid. The tax would be opposed by 55 percent, with 3 percent undecided.

If the measure does pass, I think we can consider the city a fully-fledged member of Greater GR, and welcome them accordingly. :thumbsup:

However, should there be any future ballot measures similar to what we had in May, their inclusion in the voting pool will probably make passing such measures more difficult... Just sayin'.

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Hopefully the rapid looks into more area-based millages in the future for proposals like the one last year -- rapid-wide small increase for all of the features and an extra one for just GR, Kentwood, and Wyoming for the Silver Line. I think an approach like that, if possible would work much better for the future.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Residents of Hudsonville will be voting in May whether or not to join the Rapid:

http://www.mlive.com...ld_put_hud.html

If the measure does pass, I think we can consider the city a fully-fledged member of Greater GR, and welcome them accordingly. :thumbsup:

However, should there be any future ballot measures similar to what we had in May, their inclusion in the voting pool will probably make passing such measures more difficult... Just sayin'.

That's probably one reason why it won't pass. To some Ottawa county burbs the City of Grand Rapids is the boogie man. Anything can happen though, the birthplace of public transit advocacy was in the southwest suburban areas.

Edited by Rizzo
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  • 1 month later...

According to the city, DASH lot 6 (where the new Amtrak station is going) officially closes March 16th. Should see land clearing in the near future.

Also, this FREE event is coming up March 22nd, being put on by Rapid Growth Media. Should be a good one.

https://www.facebook.com/events/178706405578519/

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Beginning March 15, 2012 The Rapid will be running Route 2 (Kalamazoo) up and down Ionia between Central Station, Cherry and Franklin. This is a permament route change.

There is no information on their website about it. I saw the large notice at the stop by Van Andel Arena.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks John. Somehow I had missed those. Im glad that there is a tall element to it so it'll be noticeable from the highway, otherwise i'm not sure it'd be visible. I think that'll be a great addition to that area. Seems like a hotel in that empty warehouse next door could be a good use.

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Does anyone else have the first impression that it seems kind of small? I think it will look nice (especially compared to the current station) but it just seems a little underwhelming.

Yeah, I think even The Rapid thinks it's smaller than they'd like to see. I think it's an issue of how much funding is available.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The green roof on The Rapid's Wealthy St Operations Center is pretty awesome. This picture doesn't show even 1/4 of it.

It is big. Here's an aerial shot:

http://maps.google.c...002328&t=h&z=19

Google, you're really starting to creep me out! It won't be long before I start seeing little people and cars going across my screen in real time. How often do they update that site? I could have sworn it wasn't there that long ago.

Edited by RegalTDP
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  • 1 month later...

There may soon be a new intercity bus company in town. Megabus, a service that runs from city-to-city utilizing hubs has a local hub in Chicago. After using their services in other cities (Chicago-Milwaukee, DC-NYC) I've wondered why we couldn't have that convenience to get from GR to Chicago and then beyond. The amount of cities that they service has been growing lately with GR being one of the largest cities without service. So I sent the normal "When can GR get your service?" email and finally got a positive response!

"Good Morning,

Megabus.com does have a new route from Chicago to Grand Rapids, however the

service has not started yet. We do not have an exact date at this time for

when this route will begin, please continue to check our site for more

updated information about this route.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

Megabus Customer Service Specialist"

I'm excited about another means to get down to Chicago (other than the once a day Amtrak that can have an iffy ETA.) From experience The routes can be cheap and provide the ability to connect on to other midwestern and even southern cities (map included below.) It'd be nice if they can have their stop at the new Amtrak/Rapid hub. Will Greyhound be there as well?

626px-MegabusNorthAmericaMap.svg.png

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There may soon be a new intercity bus company in town. Megabus, a service that runs from city-to-city utilizing hubs has a local hub in Chicago. After using their services in other cities (Chicago-Milwaukee, DC-NYC) I've wondered why we couldn't have that convenience to get from GR to Chicago and then beyond. The amount of cities that they service has been growing lately with GR being one of the largest cities without service. So I sent the normal "When can GR get your service?" email and finally got a positive response!

"Good Morning,

Megabus.com does have a new route from Chicago to Grand Rapids, however the

service has not started yet. We do not have an exact date at this time for

when this route will begin, please continue to check our site for more

updated information about this route.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

Megabus Customer Service Specialist"

I'm excited about another means to get down to Chicago (other than the once a day Amtrak that can have an iffy ETA.) From experience The routes can be cheap and provide the ability to connect on to other midwestern and even southern cities (map included below.) It'd be nice if they can have their stop at the new Amtrak/Rapid hub. Will Greyhound be there as well?

What are their buses like? How do they compare to Greyhound?

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I haven't ridden Megabus, but when I was on the Greyhound on my way back up to Michigan, a Megabus happened to choose the same truck stop for a 15 minute stretch. It was a double-decker bus that looked like it didn't have any luggage compartments underneath. If that's the same bus that'll be going to GR, it'll certainly be nice for day trips to Chicago where all you'll need is some carry-on.

Edit: This reminds me I should update my location from Mississippi to Lansing.

Edited by tSlater
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I'm excited about another means to get down to Chicago (other than the once a day Amtrak that can have an iffy ETA.) From experience The routes can be cheap and provide the ability to connect on to other midwestern and even southern cities (map included below.) It'd be nice if they can have their stop at the new Amtrak/Rapid hub. Will Greyhound be there as well?

Greyhound has been located at Rapid Central since Rapid Central opened.

That's great news about Megabus. I've long wondered why we didn't have service. I've thought they could even run it Chicago to Lansing/E. Lansing and give people an option for getting to and from MSU and MSU people a route to Chicago and GR.

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  • 4 months later...

A new article posted about the Amtrak station:

http://www.mlive.com...pids_amtra.html

It looks like that tall tower might be translucent, lit up from inside.

Does anyone have a status update on station construction? I thought work was going to be well underway by now but the site looks almost untouched as of a couple weeks ago. Supposedly it will be open in 2013, is that still realistic?

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Does anyone have a status update on station construction? I thought work was going to be well underway by now but the site looks almost untouched as of a couple weeks ago. Supposedly it will be open in 2013, is that still realistic?

Haven't heard any updates lately but was struck by the irony of this post on the heels of the previous one about Megabus.

I suspect Megabus will, and probably already has, hurt Amtrak. Considering the huge difference in fares (especially booking pretty far in advance), Megabus makes traveling Amtrak look like a luxury. Those low fares also condition riders to accept a few annoyances. Add to that 3 departures & arrivals per day with nonstop service to/from Chicago/GR one has to wonder how empty this spanking new station will be. My guess is it won't help the airport either.

I'll be looking closely at a full 6 months and 1 year ridership report from both. I believe service started early July here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Breakdown of the vote by precinct;

http://www.electionmagic.com/results/mi/K41results/K4100602184.htm

It failed by at least two to one in every precinct. Which would include precincts that I assume are not served by the Rapid. (I don't know what the Walker precinct map looks like, I just assume that the NW corner of Walker has at least one precinct not served by the Rapid.)

Is this the last time they will try this in Walker? Or do you think they try in Grandville again?

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