Our Goals

Our goal is the creation of a comprehensive transportation system in Kent County that is inclusive for all residents and will keep our community competitive with other regions and states.

"What we're working on:"

The Kent County Transit Needs Assessment

The Grand Valley Metropolitan Council is leading "an assessment of the unmet need and demand for transit in Kent County, particularly those parts of Kent County that are not currently served by The Rapid. The information collected as part of this study will provide information about the potential expansion of transit service beyond the current scope of existing transit service providers in the county."

What are your views on this?
What type and level of transit services do you envision for Kent County in the future?
Do you have any concerns with the current services? Are you aware of what is operating today in Kent County? Any suggestions for improvements?
What type of improvements would encourage you to ride public transportation?

While the stakeholder meetings have passed, you can still get your perspective and ideas included. E-mail your thoughts (and any questions) to Andrea Dewey at the Metro Council: andrea.dewey@gvmc.org.

The Rapid Transit Master Plan

The Rapid's Transit Master Plan lays out The Rapid's vision for its development over the next ten years to meet the growing needs and demands for increased public transportation services in the six-urbanized cities. All the details of the "Preferred" Scenario are here. These include:

-The service improvements from Scenario A,
-Most of the frequency improvements from Scenarios A and B,
-Develops Bus Rapid Transit on The Rapid's two most successful transit corridors.
-The full Regional Express Bus program from Scenario C,
-A Modern Streetcar starter network that would connect the West Side, downtown Grand Rapids and Medical Mile, laying the foundation for future streetcar expansion projects (West Grand, East Grand Rapids) and
-Improvements to the Go!Bus system including extension of Go!Bus service to new service areas
-Development of an Accessibility Improvement Plan, and same day booking service (subject to space available).

Send your thoughts on this topic to The Rapid Board at: info@ridetherapid.org.

Complete Streets - Expanding presence and usability of area streets and sidewalks

Complete Streets is a national campaign to ensure "that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind" (National Complete Streets Coalition, 2009). The essentials of the campaign include: Sidewalks, bike lanes, bus lanes with accessible transit stops, frequent crossing opportunities for pedestrians with accessible signals, median islands, and curb extensions. It is easily adapted to both urban and rural areas with the intention of improving street safety, and fostering stronger communities while decreasing our dependence on oil.
If you want to know more about the National Complete Streets Coalition click on this to be brought to their home page.
If you want to know more about the Complete Streets campaign in Kent County and how to get involved please follow this link to Disability Advocates of Kent County's Advocacy page

State funding

We hope to assist in the evaluation of Michigan's current funding sources for public transportation services as well as assisting in the development of new financial resources.

The Transportation Funding Task Force (TF2) put together an interactive power point that can be found here that helps explain Michigan's current funding for transportation and the potential impact on its future. Also up for proposal as a way to increase public transportation funding is an increase in Michigan's gas tax. However, this method is very controversial at this time given Michigan's economic climate.

For more information on Michigan's Transportation Funding Task Force click here.

There are a number of bills introduced in Lansing to increase the gas and diesel taxes so as to bridge the current gap in funding. To get the most up-to-date information head to www.drivemi.org

Michigan's State Vision

This link includes more information on a vision for the state of Michigan's transportation as being developed by state transit advocates.

Also of interest, the 2005-2030 State Long-Range Transportation Plan from MDOT