Here is some information about bus detours on TheRide because of student move-in (Aug 31-Sept 3, 2010):

TheRide to detour routes on UM Central/Medical Campuses during student move-in; Route 36 to resume regular routing

The University of Michigan’s (UM) student move-in will close or redirect parts of several streets in the UM Central and Medical Campus areas. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (TheRide) will detour routes around the area in an attempt to avoid traffic congestion and maintain timely service.

Detours around the Central Campus Transit Center project will remain in effect for most routes. As a result, TheRide is advising passengers to plan their trips in advance and allow extra time for traveling on the affected routes.

Route 36 will end its detour on Monday, August 30. The route will access the new Central Campus Transit Center and return to its regular routing on that date.

Click here to view all of the information on Route Detours for Student Move-In

Route and schedule information is available at www.TheRide.org and at 734.996.0400.

TheRide also offers e-mail and text message updates on bus routes, schedules, detours and other news from TheRide by free subscription to MyRide at www.TheRide.org.

Visit TheRide at www.facebook.com/CatchTheRide or www.twitter.com/CatchTheRide.

Want to provide some feedback to TheRide (Ann Arbor Transportation Authority) about what the future of transit should look like in Washtenaw County?

TheRide is setting up meetings all across the county this fall to get your thoughts.

Click here to check out the Public Outreach meeting schedule.

You read me right.  The newest transit technology proposed in China is something called a “straddling bus” which actually travels over the tops of cars.

This bus doesn’t have to stop traffic to pick up passengers and can hold as many as 1,200 passengers at a time.

Check out more on this crazy bus here.

FYI:

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority will not operate regular fixed-route bus service, A-Ride paratransit, or senior taxi services on Monday, September 6, 2010 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.  Regular bus, paratransit and senior taxi services will resume on Tuesday, September 7.

AATA administrative offices at 2700 South Industrial Highway will be closed in observance of the holiday.  The offices will reopen on Tuesday, September 7 on their regular 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. schedule.  The Blake and Ypsilanti Transit Centers also will be closed on September 6 and reopen during their regular hours on September 7.

Passengers may take advantage of AATA’s Holiday Ride shared-ride taxi service on Monday for just $5 a person.  Seniors and persons with disabilities with an AATA identification card may ride for $2.50. Individuals with a go!pass may ride for $1.00 through a subsidy by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

The Holiday Ride taxi service operates only within the city limits of Ann Arbor.  To schedule a Holiday Ride trip, call 528.5432.

Bus route and schedule information is available on AATA’s Web Site at www.TheRide.org. or at 734.996.0400.

FYI from the AATA:

Three bus boarding locations at the Blake Transit Center (BTC) will be relocated on Wednesday, August 4 due to the closing of Fifth Avenue around the underground parking lot construction next to the main library.

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (TheRide) has announced that Routes 1, 15 and 18 will board passengers along the west side of Fourth Avenue just north of William Street next to the Fourth and William parking structure. Passengers are encouraged to use the crosswalk at William to access these new stops.

According to officials of TheRide, an agreement with the City of Ann Arbor will allow some route buses to access their usual stops in the mall area of the transit center by utilizing a portion of Fifth Avenue going northbound to the BTC mall driveway.

As traffic or project conditions change, additional boarding locations may need to be relocated onto Fourth Avenue. A second phase of this project, and additional relocations, may begin as early as spring 2011.

All routes operated by TheRide will be delayed and/or detoured during the Fifth Avenue construction project.

Beginning August 1, Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12B, 13, 17 and 18 heading into downtown Ann Arbor and Routes 17 and 18 leaving the BTC will be placed on detour.

Click here for more information on detours.

Updates on the boarding locations and a list of out-of-service bus stops and nearest stops in service will be available at www.TheRide.org or by calling 734.996.0400.

FYI:

City of Ann Arbor, MI Daily Digest

The Ann Arbor Art Fairs and Townie Street Party will close streets in the downtown Ann Arbor area during the week of July 19, 2010. In order to maintain timely service, routes 2 and 36 will be detoured all day on Monday, July 19 for the Townie Street Party and routes 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17 and 36 will be detoured Tuesday, July 20 – Saturday, July 24 around the Art Fairs.

Affected route and bus stop information can be found here.

AATA is advising passengers to plan their trips in advance and allow extra time for traveling on the affected routes. Please note that several routes in the University of Michigan (UM) Central Campus area are already detoured. The latest information on AATA routes, schedules and detours is available at 734.996.0400 and at www.TheRide.org/dd.asp.

Yet another benefit of transit.  A recent study found that people who use a Commuter Train to get to work lost more weight over time than drivers.  Check out the study here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=mass-transit-encourages-exercise-an-10-07-09

Interesting article from the Ny Mag that I just came across.

In light of budget cuts for rail transit, what if buses are really the way to go?

I admit I haven’t read the entire article yet, but it presents some interesting thoughts on the evolution of the bus system and how it relates to New York.

According to IBM’s Commuter Pain Survey, driving in many large metropolitan cities is pretty unpleasant.

What is causing all of this pain?  IBM looked at 10 different factors:

1) commuting time, 2) time stuck in traffic, agreement that: 3) price of gas is already too high, 4) traffic has gotten worse, 5) start-stop traffic is a problem, 6) driving causes stress, 7) driving causes anger, 8. traffic affects work, 9) traffic so bad driving stopped, and 10) decided not to make trip due to traffic.

Whoah.  Not good stuff.  Cities ranking high on the commuter pain index include Beijing, Toronto, London, Paris, New York, and of course, Los Angeles.

Interestingly, some of the countries with high commuter pain also have high rates of transit, biking and walking (I am thinking of Toronto and New York in particular).

While IBM looks at commuter pain, I’d love to switch this around to check out a commuter happiness index.  What sort of things could measure commuter happiness?  Short commuting time would definitely be one of them.  But how about some of the things that make biking, walking and busing so great?  Like stronger connection to community, better personal fitness, and lower stress.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what cities rank high on the Commuter Happiness Index and what makes those cities work so well?  It might help understand the reasons behind the pain of these other places.

At a recent Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) Board Meeting, I was able to hear a presentation on the AATA’s new Transit Master Plan process.

And before you go looking for the plan with all it’s components on the new Moving You Forward website, let me emphasize that what was presented was a process, not a plan?

Why?

Because what the AATA wants to do (with the help of several consultants) is engage the community on several different levels:

1. First, the AATA wants to find out what Washtenaw County citizens need and want for the County for the next 5, 15, and 30 years.  Do we want a thriving economy?  Do we want to attract more young professionals?  Do we want more focus on the environment?  Do we just want to party?

2. These needs will then be looked at in terms of what types of transportation could help meet the needs.  If we want a thriving economy, does that mean we focus on trolleys or bus rapid transit?  Or better bike lanes?

3. Finally, all of these different types of technologies will be mapped on some different scenarios to determine how they would all fit into a particular plan.

I like this approach because it reminds me what a marketing professional once instructed me to do: You see, when you want to make a pie, you don’t just make a little dough, but you make enough so that you can make sure you’ll be able to cover the whole pie.  And then you cut that dough down until you have just what you need.  So the AATA is going to use the public’s input to make a lot of dough and then work through the process of cutting that input down into something that looks and tastes delicious.

The whole Moving You Forward process has already begun, with the head of the AATA Michael Ford, meeting with many members of the community.  There will also be lots of time for public input beginning later in the year.

If you are at all interested in seeing a plan for transit for this community (including how biking and walking fit into the picture) I encourage you to check out Movingyouforward.org and be a part of the discussion.