Following a summit on improving public transit held in October of 2005, a transit improvement plan, Getting There Together: Citizens’ Agenda to Move Transit Forward in the Grand Valley Region, has been compiled by Concerned Citizens for Improved Transit, Disability Advocates of Kent County, Faith in Motion, and the Michigan Land Use Institute. The 12-page report discusses how with recent economic growth in Grand Rapids and increased costs of automobile ownership, an improved transit system is needed in Grand Rapids. The report points out that there is public support for the development of a modern transit system with ridership increasing on the Rapid (Grand Rapids’ bus service) by 13.8% in 2005 and the passage of recent tax increases to fund improvements to local bus service. Over the past decade there has been growing concern that Michigan’s outdated transit policy—one embracing the construction of new roads—is destined to fail because despite plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the region’s infrastructure, a 1996 study by transit experts in Grand Rapids predicted a 1,000 percent increase in traffic congestion by 2015.

In defining the goal of a public transit system, the Citizens’ Agenda for Transit adopts many of the principles of the Alliance for a New Transportation’s charter and calls for a system that sustains economic prosperity by reducing costs, building community, and attracts businesses and workers; promotes social equity and livable communities by reducing the cost of living and guarantees access for everyone; enhances public health, safety, and security by improving air quality, increasing physical activity, and promoting safety for pedestrians and cyclists; and improves energy use and environmental protection by preserving open space and promoting energy conservation. In an effort to attain such a transit system, the report identifies five key priorities for improving the transit system:

• Provide Increased Service across the Metropolitan Region
  With the success of new bus routes on 44th St, 28th St, and to Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus, it is essential to look at ways to expand the service by providing increased access and hours of operation across the region. Current transit routes do not serve many prominent cultural institutions including Millennium Park, the West Michigan Whitecaps’ stadium, and the Meijer Gardens and the system fails to provide access to a number of businesses located in the Grand Rapids area as well as in cities such as Cedar Springs, Sparta, and Lowell.
• Coordination between Providers
  The Rapid is not the only transit provider in the region, as the Red Cross, Hope Network, Senior Neighbors, and other groups also offer transit options to citizens requiring service beyond what the Rapid can provide. Unfortunately, little coordination exists between these different providers and such coordination could improve the cost effectiveness and utility of public transit.
• Improve Weekend Hours
  Due to budget constraints, the Rapid currently reduces its weekend services by half. In order to improve the transit system, an increased number of routes and hours are needed on the weekend.
• Establishment of a Regional Authority
  While the Rapid provides regional coordination between Grand Rapids, Wyoming, East Grand Rapids, Grandville, and Walker, a single regional organization must be established for the entire Grand Valley region. Such a transit authority would promote cooperation between local governments and allow for greater opportunities for increasing federal funding.
• Promote Walking and Biking
  An improved public transit system has to integrate a variety of methods of transit, including walking and biking, into a comprehensive public transit system. To this end, sidewalks need to be constructed on streets such as 28th St and civic leaders need to do more to promote walking and bicycling more aggressively.

Of course, in order to fund such an improvement to the transit system, new approaches to funding are going to be needed. Locally, large percentages of voters have supported recent tax increases to fund public transit with 65% of voters approving tax increases in April 2000 and 66% in November 2002. Similarly, federal support for capital projects has also risen. The primary funding obstacle to transit system improvements is the state government that has diverted money marked for transit to other projects and is governed by a provision in the state constitution that requires 90% of the Michigan Transit Fund to be spent on roads. In order to improve transit funding, the Citizens’ Agenda makes funding recommendations, including that Michigan earmark enough state money for transit to get federal dollars for ongoing maintenance of transit systems, that the legislature stop diverting money from the Comprehensive Transportation Fund, that the full 10% of constitutionally allowed gas taxes be used to fund transit, and that local areas continue to fund public transit.

Central to the argument for improved transit is the notion that a “world-class” public transit system is both a necessity of and catalyst for economic growth in the region. Citing a recent survey by financial management firm Jones Lang LaSalle, the report finds that 77% of so-called “new economy” firms rate access to public transit as an extremely important factor in determining where to locate. This will likely be an important consideration for Grand Rapids, where political candidates frequently tout the city’s health sciences as way to reorient the local economy as other regions competing in the health sciences and information technology industries have developed effective public transit systems to lure workers and attract modern companies. Additionally, a 1999 study by the consulting firm Cambridge Systems estimated that for every $10 million invested in public transit 300 jobs are generated and local sales are boosted by $30 million due to the attraction of private investment capital.