Kent County Transit

[John E]

With The Rapid's Master Plan going forward with the property tax increase winning on the ballot, they are also going forward with seeking input on a Kent County Transit system:

http://www.gvmc.org/transportation/KCTNA.shtml

~John

[Rizzo]

Demand is really low apparently. Only expect several corridors to be viable for the bare minimum fixed service. Ditch the term "county wide," because buses will only service a few clustered outlying suburban areas with hardly any stops in between. I'd start calling it Suburban Connections or the like. County-wide makes it sound like buses on every road throughout -- that's going to scare the hell out of everyone during any ballot initiative.

Public transit has very high favorables (north of 70%, I believe) in SE Ottawa. Apparently SE Ottawa is the largest population not serviced by public transit in the State of Michigan. Public transit probably has more positive perceptions in SE Ottawa then in some suburbs in The Rapid's own service area. A Hudsonville to Downtown is likely. Downtown or Route 28 extension to Ada, Forest Hills and even Lowell may be sustainable. Also look at a Hudsonville, Jenison, Grandvile to the Southwestern transit hub at Rivertown Crossings. With a western flank of buses connecting at Rivertown and GVSU at Allendale -- Holland and Muskegon links are more viable.

Still connectivity will be bare bones -- no nights and weekends, plus buses may operate on commuter time.

[MJLO]

Gotta start somewhere

[OneSweetWorld]

Public transit has very high favorables (north of 70%, I believe) in SE Ottawa. Apparently SE Ottawa is the largest population not serviced by public transit in the State of Michigan. Public transit probably has more positive perceptions in SE Ottawa then in some suburbs in The Rapid's own service area.

Really?? Where did you get this information? SE Ottawa seems like one of the least likely places in West Michigan to be supportive of public transit. Or has the place become more diverse (read: less Dutch Reformed) than I remember?