1.4M rides, crowded buses spur The Rapid to study bus rapid transit for Lake Michigan Dr. corridor

A record 1.4 million rides last year and crowded buses despite service every five to six minutes have prompted The Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) to find a way to improve bus route 50, its busiest route.

Bus route 50, which transports mainly Grand Valley State University college students between GVSU's downtown Grand Rapids Pew Campus and its Allendale Campus along Lake Michigan Drive, is the subject of a long-range study that will offer up answers on the feasibility of a bus rapid transit (BRT) line to serve the entire 13-plus-mile corridor.

The $600,000 study, led by URS Corporation, will take about a year, says The Rapid's long range planner Nick Monoyios. Construction has begun on the city's only BRT line, the $30 million Silver Line, which will run along Division Avenue. But it's not clear until the new study is complete whether the solution for route 50 is a BRT or something else.

"Eleven buses make 300 trips every day, crammed full of kids. The ridership has been growing exponentially since we started the service 10 years ago," Monoyios says. "We don't know if the problem is a frequency problem and we need to add more buses, which could cost more than adding longer buses that have more capacity. It's hard to pinpoint with accuracy."

The study will gather public input from riders and stakeholders, as well as riders and stakeholders of routes 7, 12, and 18, which also operate within the same corridor, says Jennifer Kalczuk, external relations manager. "We have [bus] stops today, but do those make the most sense, or would there be better locations? What is the best way to serve that whole corridor?"

Monoyios and Kalczuk agree that the primary goal of the study is to gather significant public input from every stakeholder, institution, and rider. Plans are underway for a number of community meetings over the next year, online tools and apps, and meetings with neighborhood associations, business leaders, and others. Information gathered will guide an advisory committee and a policy committee in determining a solution that works for the corridor.

Public meetings will be announced on The Rapid website and via the media.

Monoyios expects to have the study results by August 2014.

Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor