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.
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.
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.
Tomorrow is National Dump the Pump Day. National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to ride public transportation (instead of driving) and save money.
There are lot’s of reasons to think about using transit, including:
I’ve been eyeing this poster in the window of Underground Sounds for months and now we finally have it on our office. Oh joy! It’s from the band called The Girls.
Never tried public transit before and want a little nudge? EveryGirl posts a quick and basic guide to using public transit in any city. Her advice is practical and straight forward.
If you work in downtown Ann Arbor and need a little more assistance using the bus, let us know. We can help!
I haven’t had a chance to watch this yet, but I hope to see it soon. On Monday, PBS aired a documentary on Detroit that looked at how to bring the city back by investing in transit, biking, etc.
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.
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).
