Development Oriented Transit is a key term for urban centers aiming to create public transit and bank on the promise of economic development to follow, and one southeast Michigan city is looking to Grand Rapids as an example of success.
According to excerpts from the story:
Two Howell City Council members are hoping to educate thousands of residents with brochures featuring information on the proposed commuter rail line that would connect the county seat with Ann Arbor. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Manor is paying out of his own pocket to distribute roughly 4,000 brochures with information on the Washtenaw Livingston Line, or WALLY, at city polling places on Election Day.
The brochure highlights information largely from a 2008 WALLY study, Manor said, and includes some additional data from the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study, or WATS, which has been a strong proponent of the line. WALLY would require more than $32 million in startup costs and require updates to rails, signals, crossings, sidings, engines and cars, among other expenditures.
The brochure states $74 million of development has taken place within three blocks of a new Grand Rapids transit center since 2004.
Read the complete story here.
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