I moved to Lansing via East Lansing about 2 years ago when I started working for CATA, I absolutely love this town. Great people, great things going on!
As far as the trolley, those old ones needed to go... They were made in 1993, you're usually lucky to get 8-12 years out of a "medium duty" bus, which trolleys are categorized as. We bought new ones to replace the old ones, they were delivered a few months ago and we ran them for a bit before selling the old ones. The new ones are a lot more reliable, quieter, and a more comfortable ride.
Trolleys are actually used for more than the Entertainment Express. During the day they are used in the Holt/Delhi area for demand response service and Route 19 (or they used to be on rt 19, we may have upped it to a full-size bus). Our executive office looooves those trolleys, so expect to see them around for a while!
Thanks! I think that the trolleys offer a nice niche ride and probably attract people who wouldn't normally ride the bus. I'm glad to hear nothings changing with Entertainment Express.
I looked over some of the online documents you linked, and the reports/study look very promising! Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the options for improvement (as opposed to keeping things the way they are with bus service only) have been narrowed down to BRT, LRT and Modern Streetcar. It also seems that from the data and public input that the most desired/feasible upgrade would be towards a center-aligned modern streetcar with a minimum of 4 auto lanes to maintain an acceptable LOS. Is this what CATA/Lansing will likely be pursuing?
Also, there is a section of Grand River between Bogue and River Street that has a very narrow ROW. How will the plan work in that stretch, or can some additional ROW be acquired?
in terms of likelihood, we're still workin on that! this portion of the study is to guage which of those options - the conventional bus, brt, lrt, and streetcar - are the most viable for federal funding and thus viable for implementation. Thus far (and his may change) the analysis has shown a need for 2 auto lanes in either direction throughout the corridor. We've also decided that center-running is probably going to work best through the corridor. We've just wrapped up a preliminary stage of creating service plans - once those are finished up, we'll move forward with comparing them and analyzing the results.
All of the remaining alternatives are run through a computer model which is scrutinized by the FTA. This is the same model Tri-County uses for transportation planning, but it will be fine-tuned for transit.
In terms of the actual engineering, there are plenty of hurdles to overcome but none of them are large enough to eliminate any of these options at this early point. This phase of the study will only bring us to a "2%" engineering level. In addition to ROW issues, there's other complications associated with the railroad downtown and the rail bridge in Meridian. Merciless pun: we'll cross those bridges when we come to them.
I'm not yet sure of how the ROW issue will be dealt with, or whether it will be an issue at all - It's so preliminary that we haven't gotten there yet. I've been telling people that we are "in the clouds" still. In the next few months, this portion of the study will end with a decision of whether to descend to the "trees" or not. The ROW and bridge issues will get vetted as we go through "the weeds" in the next few years.
It's going to be a long, deliberative process but one that holds great potential for our region!
Full disclosure - I've recently accepted a new position at LEAP as the Regional Business Program Manager... Helluva job opportunity just opened up at CATA! http://www.cata.org/AboutCATA/JobOpportunities/tabid/154/ctl/JobView/mid/592/Default.aspx?JobId=50
Sorry to kill your inside source! I hope it was good while it lasted...
Leap is an innovative private/public partnership that's been working since 2007 to position the Greater Lansing region to win new jobs and new investment in this competitive global market. We're a one-stop shop offering direct access to mid-Michigan's myriad resources.
The Michigan/Grand River Transportation Study is now giving presentations on the bus rapid transit system that they have decided to pursue. You can look through their vision for new stations and corridor improvements here:
http://www.migrtrans.org/resourcepage.html
The Steering Committee hasn't chosen what option to go with yet. That doesn't happen until after public scrutiny of our findings. The last public open houses are the following: EL Hannah Center, 11/10/10, 11:30a-1:30p and 5:00p-7:00p; and Meridian Twp Municipal Building, 11/11/10, 5:00p-7:00p.
The options still include the Baseline Alternative, LRT, Modern Streetcar, BRT, and a Modified BRT. Both of the BRT options are being called "BRT Heavy" by the project team to distinguish them from the "light" option that Grand Rapids had proposed. We nicknamed them "heavy" because they essentially do everything that an LRT car would do - substantial stations, ~100% dedicated lane throughout, off-vehicle fare payment, look awesome, various fuel options, etc. - but all done on rubber tires. You'll see why we had to flesh this option out and do a little refining: http://www.migrtrans.org/documents/onepagers/pager8.pdf
If you can't make it to the public meetings, check out the boards that'll be there. http://www.migrtrans.org/resourcepage.html
CATA folks are always happy to talk about this stuff, and now that they have a planner who knows what he's doing, you'll probably get better answers! (http://www.capitalgainsmedia.com/jobslanded/jason_ball.aspx?utm_campaign=It's%20a%20Rap&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=Jason%20Ballcampaign)
Comments
I moved to Lansing via East Lansing about 2 years ago when I started working for CATA, I absolutely love this town. Great people, great things going on!
As far as the trolley, those old ones needed to go... They were made in 1993, you're usually lucky to get 8-12 years out of a "medium duty" bus, which trolleys are categorized as. We bought new ones to replace the old ones, they were delivered a few months ago and we ran them for a bit before selling the old ones. The new ones are a lot more reliable, quieter, and a more comfortable ride.
Trolleys are actually used for more than the Entertainment Express. During the day they are used in the Holt/Delhi area for demand response service and Route 19 (or they used to be on rt 19, we may have upped it to a full-size bus). Our executive office looooves those trolleys, so expect to see them around for a while!
I looked over some of the online documents you linked, and the reports/study look very promising! Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the options for improvement (as opposed to keeping things the way they are with bus service only) have been narrowed down to BRT, LRT and Modern Streetcar. It also seems that from the data and public input that the most desired/feasible upgrade would be towards a center-aligned modern streetcar with a minimum of 4 auto lanes to maintain an acceptable LOS. Is this what CATA/Lansing will likely be pursuing?
Also, there is a section of Grand River between Bogue and River Street that has a very narrow ROW. How will the plan work in that stretch, or can some additional ROW be acquired?
All of the remaining alternatives are run through a computer model which is scrutinized by the FTA. This is the same model Tri-County uses for transportation planning, but it will be fine-tuned for transit.
In terms of the actual engineering, there are plenty of hurdles to overcome but none of them are large enough to eliminate any of these options at this early point. This phase of the study will only bring us to a "2%" engineering level. In addition to ROW issues, there's other complications associated with the railroad downtown and the rail bridge in Meridian. Merciless pun: we'll cross those bridges when we come to them.
I'm not yet sure of how the ROW issue will be dealt with, or whether it will be an issue at all - It's so preliminary that we haven't gotten there yet. I've been telling people that we are "in the clouds" still. In the next few months, this portion of the study will end with a decision of whether to descend to the "trees" or not. The ROW and bridge issues will get vetted as we go through "the weeds" in the next few years.
It's going to be a long, deliberative process but one that holds great potential for our region!
Sorry to kill your inside source! I hope it was good while it lasted...
http://www.migrtrans.org/resourcepage.html
The options still include the Baseline Alternative, LRT, Modern Streetcar, BRT, and a Modified BRT. Both of the BRT options are being called "BRT Heavy" by the project team to distinguish them from the "light" option that Grand Rapids had proposed. We nicknamed them "heavy" because they essentially do everything that an LRT car would do - substantial stations, ~100% dedicated lane throughout, off-vehicle fare payment, look awesome, various fuel options, etc. - but all done on rubber tires. You'll see why we had to flesh this option out and do a little refining: http://www.migrtrans.org/documents/onepagers/pager8.pdf
If you can't make it to the public meetings, check out the boards that'll be there. http://www.migrtrans.org/resourcepage.html
CATA folks are always happy to talk about this stuff, and now that they have a planner who knows what he's doing, you'll probably get better answers! (http://www.capitalgainsmedia.com/jobslanded/jason_ball.aspx?utm_campaign=It's%20a%20Rap&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=Jason%20Ballcampaign)