LivingstonDaily.com recently posted an article on the Howell to Ann Arbor Commuter Rail Project (WALLY).

Here’s a summary of the updates:

• The WALLY project did not get a $324 million federal TIGER grant, but this was seem as a long shot.
• The project is still moving forward.  Millions of state dollars have already been identified for the project.
• The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority will submit a revised Business Plan for WALLY in the next couple of weeks that reflects the funding factors and how the project will proceed.

You can read the entire article here.

Mike is the type of person you might not typically think of as a sustainable commuter. He’s the President and COO of a growing company. He’s a dad. And he has a free parking spot in the back of his building.

But don’t let those details fool you. From my interview with Mike it’s clear that commuting sustainably fits perfectly into his life and has some unexpected benefits. Mike Felkey works at Intersect Digital, a small web development firm with some big clients. Intersect has worked with such companies as Subaru and Saatchi & Saatchi. The company’s headquarters is in downtown Ann Arbor (on First Street) and they also have a location in New York (who doesn’t, really). Depending on the amount of work available, Intersect employs anywhere from 17 to 60 employees. Currently, business is on the upswing.

The first clue into Mike’s interest in sustainable commuting comes when we talk about the company’s culture. Intersect is very supportive of telecommuting for its employees. Since many of the company’s employees live in places like Southfield and Novi and since many of them are working mothers, this benefit really helps cut down on a stressful commute. As far as Mike’s concerned, as long as employees get the work done, it doesn’t matter where they do it. We then chatted a bit about Daniel Pink’s new book, Drive, which describes how the businesses of the future are finding ways to motivate their employees through giving them freedom rather than imposing tons of rules. And according to Mike, this philosophy really pays off.

So what about the employees who do commute to work? Since Intersect offers the go!pass to employees, some of them happily take the bus. Other employees walk or ride their bikes. As far as Mike goes, he likes to walk, bike or take the bus to work. His commute isn’t super short either. If he chooses to walk, it can take him about 40 minutes.

So what’s Mike’s motivation for walking, biking or busing to work? He’s got a free space out back, and could probably get to work by car in less than 40 minutes. A big benefit Mike sees in leaving his car at home is that walking, biking and busing are all great for his health. He gets to build some exercise into his day, which might otherwise be a challenge to find the time for. Now that there are Zipcars downtown (a couple just a block from him office), Mike can bike, walk or bus to work even when he needs to go to a meeting out of town.

As we start to chat a little about Mike’s kids (his son goes to Tappan and his daughter goes to Burn’s Park Elementary), I find out another great benefit of Mike’s commute. Both of his kids have grown up watching Mike walk to work and now they want to walk to school. With all of the current news about childhood obesity, the example that Mike is setting for his kids is really inspiring.

When I asked Mike what he might like to see improved about transportation in our community, he lists fixing the lights so they are more in sync, improving the parking downtown, and adding more bike lanes to make cycling safer. We also talked a little but about the possibility of light rail, which is a topic he’s really interested in. Mike even said he’d contemplate giving up his car if there were light rail, especially since there are Zipcars available.

Mike’s biking, walking and busing ways are not unique among leaders in downtown Ann Arbor. Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations, frequently bikes to work. Grace Singleton, Managing Partner at Zingerman’s Deli, is also a bike commuter. Bonnie Valentine of the Whole Brain Group often takes the bus to work. Curtis Sullivan and Liz DellaRocco, owners of Vault of Midnight walk and carpool to work.

Any downtown commuter can join this great list of leaders. All you have to do is hop on a bus, grab your bike, or strap on your walking shoes. If you work downtown and would like some help figuring out which commuting option is best for you, getDowntown can help! Simply give us a call, check out our website or send us an email for personal commuting assistance.

Where do you go to find information on the best places to eat downtown? What about where to grab the best cup of coffee? Chances are you have a go-to source for this kind of information, whether it is a friend, a co-worker, or some online source.

But who could you turn to for help with your downtown commute? Maybe you’re sick and tired of paying for parking. Maybe you’re new to the downtown and what to get a sense of all your options.

No matter the reason, there is a great resource you can use if you work in downtown Ann Arbor. It’s the getDowntown Program. The getDowntown Program provides FREE commuting information for employees in downtown Ann Arbor. We know the bus routes, have figured out Park & Ride lots, and ride our bikes to work. We can answer any downtown commuting questions you have, and we can do it for free.

Click here to ask getDowntown a Commuting Question

Commuting Questions Answered

Here’s a taste of the kind of questions we can answer. These are actual questions from actual downtown employees:

Downtown Employee: I commute regular hours (M-F, 9-5) from Toledo to downtown Ann Arbor. Are you aware of any shuttle or carpooling opportunities (or where to find them) for folks who travel between Toledo and downtown Ann Arbor?

getDowntown: There are a couple of options for you.

Mirideshare.org: One option is mirdeshare.org, which is a carpool site run by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). All you have to do is go to mirideshare.org, enter in your information, and look for a match!

MichiVan: You might also be interested in vanpooling to work with other people who work in downtown Ann Arbor, including at the UM. The getDowntown Program can assist you with this, or you can do it yourself at www.michivan.com

If you do decide to carpool or vanpool to work, keep in mind that getDowntown offers preferential carpool and vanpool parking at various parking structures downtown.

Downtown Employee: I live in Ypsilanti Township, close to Huron River Drive. The AATA buses don’t go this far and there isn’t a Park & Ride Lot in the area. Can I park at a shopping center parking lot and take the bus from there?

getDowntown: This might be an option for you. The getDowntown Program can help by connecting with the manager of the shopping center to see if it is ok for you to park at that location.

Got a Commuting Question? I bet we have an answer! Click here to ask us a commuting question today!

I don’t have a lot of time to comment on these survey results right now, but I wanted folks to be able to check out the results from this survey (conducted late last year) that assess the interest of Washtenaw County voters countywide transit.

You can download the Executive Summary here.

To get a taste of some of the results, here’s the final conclusion of the report:

At the time of the survey (October, 2009) support for a transit tax issue, though nominally at a majority of 51%, was insufficient for it to pass. Too much of the support was half-hearted, and opposition, though in the minority, was firm. However, exposure to various arguments for and against a transit tax during the survey resulted in a gain of 10% for the issue, a fact that indicates the ability of a campaign to motivate a positive vote, not by trying to change the minds of those clearly opposed to a levy, but primarily by strengthening the interest and support of those who at the present time are only weakly committed to a positive vote on the issue.

Although households with at least one transit user are heavily in favor of a transit tax issue, and are an important constituency, they are insufficient in number to pass a transit issue. Thus the issue will turn on the broader community benefit to all, transit users and non-users alike.

The promise of improvements to existing services such as extended weekend hours and more frequent service, while probably appealing to riders, and perhaps important, do not attract voters in general. On the other hand service which broaden the usefulness of transit throughout the county have some appeal. The prospects, however, of WALLY receives a very mixed response and is not advantageous to a transit tax issue. Ann Arbor – Detroit service receives better response, but neither rail issue is, at present, a significant new plus for a transit issue, and funding for WALLY may pose a serious risk for a transit issue.

The fate of the transit tax vote will depend not on a promise of any specific service or service package, but rather on the ability of a campaign and its allies to move and solidify the positive and positive-leaning voters by informing them of AATA’s existing accomplishments, its careful and productive use of public money, the county-wide nature of its future services, the need for public transit to attract jobs, and the need to expand services for seniors and those with disabilities.

Wondering what’s up with the Ann Arbor to Detroit Rail Project?  SEMCOG just posted an updated report on their website (thanks to Mark Maynard for tipping me off to this).

You can read the Jan 2010 update here (PDF).

Some of the highlights:

• The project was awarded a $3.5M earmark.
• Train schedules and bus feeder plans should be available by April 2010 (!)
• Plans are moving forward on station design
• The first train set is scheduled for delivery on May 2010

Read the entire update here (PDF).

In the race for energy efficiency between mass transit and single occupancy vehicles, who’s currently on the winning side?  The Straight Dope tackles this question in characteristically logical style.

The only thing I regret about this article is that he doesn’t look at bikes and traveling by foot as viable transportation option (although he does mention them in passing at the end of the article).

FYI: http://michigandaily.com/content/new-ann-arbor-detroit-rail-service-works-0

A New York Times Blog recently posted that public transit ridership declined by 3.8% during the first nine months of 2009.  Not surprising given the lower gas prices and unemployment stats for 2009.   The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority experienced similar declines during that time.   Also of note is that transit ridership in San Francisco actually increased during this time.

One thing the blog post doesn’t consider is the change in automobile use during this time.  Were people also driving less because they didn’t have the money to go shopping etc?  Or maybe people were driving more because gas is cheap.  I am sure this stat is out there somewhere.

It would also be interesting to consider who stopped taking the bus.  Did people who always take the bus simply take the bus less?  Or did people who could choose between driving or busing choose to drive?  It’s not as if all transit riders are the same.  It would be very interesting to delve into this data as well.

For a somewhat basic breakdown of this concept, in the APTA report, it appears that ridership on Commuter Rail and Buses declined about 5% while ridership on Heavy Rail and Light Rail declined to a lesser degree (about 3% and 1% respectively) .  Trolley ridership actually increased by .6%   It would be interesting to see why the declines are different.  Any thoughts?

So I guess the take home lesson in all of this (which we’ve known here at the getDowntown Program for a while now) is that cost matters when it comes to transportation choices.  Most people will be more likely to change their commuting behavior when it starts to hit their pocketbook.  People are also more likely to change their commuting behavior when they live closer to where they work (within 4 miles or so).

As we enter a New Year and continue to have debates surrounding healthcare and global warming, how does transportation (and commuting in particular) fit into this picture?  What would our world look like if more people in Ann Arbor (and the US) used sustainable transportation?  What problems would this solve (or create)?

A recent article in AnnArbor.com reports on AATA’s move toward a countywide authority as well as the preliminary results from a survey looking at voter interest in a countywide millage for transit.

The resulting comments preceding the article highlight the various opinions surrounding both ideas.  Some people will never be interested in countywide transit or a millage and don’t see the need for it.  Some people ride the buses all the time, see that they are crowded and thus see the need for more and expanded service.  Like most issues, opinions on AATA’s interest in moving to countywide are colored by the experience of the individual.

As the Director of an organization that encourages people to bus, bike, walk, carpool, etc. downtown, I clearly have an interest in seeing an expansion of transit service countywide.  I’m not going to argue with that.  However, my interest is not simply shaped by my own experience but by what I hear from the people I serve–downtown commuters.

The getDowntown Program recently conducted a survey of downtown Ann Arbor employees and found that about 50% of employees live in Ann Arbor.  That means the rest live outside of Ann Arbor.   As a center for high-quality jobs, Ann Arbor, and downtown especially, attract workers from all over the region.  As I have seen in my work, many of these people would like to have other ways to get to their jobs in addition to being able to drive.  They want options.  Also, a vibrant downtown is one filled with lots of people.  When people can bike, bus, walk, and drive to a downtown, this contributes to a vibrancy that more auto-centric parts of Ann Arbor lack.

Speaking of options, what isn’t mentioned in that article but is important to consider in this debate is the two proposed Commuter Rail lines (WALLY and Ann Arbor-Detroit).  While both of the rail lines are expected to be operating by the end of 2010 or early 2011, it’s still unclear what role they will play in shaping a countywide transit conversation.

I think the challenge we will continue to face in Washtenaw County surrounding the transit debate is that parts of the county are much more urban than others.  As a result, transit needs and interests are different depending on where you live in the county.  I think AATA recognizes this and will use this knowledge to shape their countywide plan.  At the same time, we continue to live in a region rather than in separate cities and townships.  What does transit look like if we plan it for a region rather that for separate cities and townships?

There is a lot more I could say on this subject, but I’d rather leave it at this and encourage readers to try to listen to both sides of the debate and figure out how transit factors into the future of this region.  Once a plan is put out there, there will probably be proposals for how to fund it.  And that’s when the really interesting debates will begin.

Like many of you, I am very interested in seeing the Ann Arbor to Detroit Commuter Rail project come to fruition.  There are tens of thousands of people who commute from Wayne County to Washtenaw County every day.  These folks have no other alternative but to drive.  Commuter rail from Ann Arbor to Detroit would be a great way to offer stressed-out commuters another option and also has potential for great economic benefits for the region.

As I said, I’m not the only one who wants this to happen.  Check out this blog post from Crain’s about an Ann Arborite who would love to commute to his job in Detroit via train.

Finally, if you’d like an update on the progress for the A2-Detroit Commuter Rail, click here. It’s a PDF report from SEMCOG.