Background

In 1998, the Mobile Metro 2020 plan was adopted. The plan guided the development of transit services in the region, including the creation of The Rapid and many service improvements that have been put into place in the intervening years.

Since the last transit plan in 1998, the Rapid has:

Added Evening and Sunday service
Introduced DASH, GVSU and GRCC services
Increased peak buses from 70 to 104 (49%)*
Increased ridership from 3.5M to 9.3M (265%)**
Increased fleet to 126 buses and 109 paratransit buses*
Outstanding Public Transportation System in U.S. (APTA, 2004)
Rapid Central Station – first LEED certified transit facility in U.S.
Begin $32M upgrade of Wealthy Operations Center (12/09)
Bus Rapid Transit and Streetcar studies

^{* 2008 National Transit Database Reports

** Estimated 2009 Annual Ridership (The Rapid)}

Where The Rapid is today

25 Fixed Routes
Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) Routes
Go!Bus (Door-to-door mobility for seniors and the disabled)
College Services (Special routes and fares for GVSU, GRCC, Aquinas and Calvin colleges)
County Connection (24-hour notice, curb-to-curb service in Kent County)
Carpooling and Vanpooling

AnnualBoardingsChart

Because the MM2020 vision has been realized, it is time to develop a new long-range plan to guide The Rapid for the next 20 years.

The transit master plan (TMP) will include a review of the most recent comprehensive operational analysis, the development of a fleet management plan to determine our vehicle needs, and a review of the existing paratransit service (GO!Bus).

The transit master plan will:

link land use and transportation decision-making
optimize means to match transit services with projected land use patterns
identify existing and future transit needs
examine alternative courses of action
identify what can be achieved in the near term (2010-2014), mid-term (2015-2020) and long-term (2021-2030) with the projected available funding for projects and programs
identify gaps between future plans and current conditions, including specific recommendations and steps to address funding gaps

The plan will also help The Rapid understand how our system stacks up against those of comparable cities/regions, identify what we can learn from those systems, ways we can enhance our transit system and services, and how we can improve service, attract and retain riders, increase efficiencies, and lower costs based on peer best practices.

This is a very collaborative process and relies very much on community involvement to be successful.