Attended an open house last night put on by the Michigan/Grand River Avenue Transportation Study group in Meridian Township.  CATA and the affected communities are working together to map out a vision for transit along this important corridor…stretching from the Capitol Building out to the Meridian Mall.  The study group has been look at the various transit systems operating around the country (buses, bus rapid transit, light rail, streetcars, etc) and researching each one to see which type of system and what kind of improvements would be most appropriate to make this corridor a true economic engine for the region.  The study group has been working to educate the public on the various options through the website www.migrtrans.org.  On this site, visitors can answer a survey about their preferences for improvements to the corridor and can actually map out how their preferred system would look, from choosing the kind of transit system, the number of road lanes, bike path and sidewalk locations.  Just a great tool!  Kudos to the study group for their efforts to bring about this vision and their work to reach out and educate the public!

Chris Hackbarth works for the Michigan Municipal League, specializing in transportation policy issues. You can contact him at 517-908-0303 or by e-mail.

Big things are happening in Washington, DC and Lansing right now regarding transit and funding.  US Transportation Secretary LaHood has begun to implement the Obama Adminstration’s vision for mass transit funding by proposing new guidelines for funding major transit projects based upon livability issues like economic development opportunities and environmental and community benefits that a project will provide.  In Lansing, legislators have introduced bills to create a new Regional Transit Authority, responding to Secretary LaHood’s challenge to SE Michigan to develop a more coherent regional system as a precursor to competing for federal mass transit funding.  This new legislation is expected to receive quite a bit of attention in the coming weeks, as swift committee action is anticipated.  To top it all off, a bi-partisan group of legislators, is expected to introduce a package of bills in early February that will greatly expand the ability of local communities to use a number of existing economic development tools to help finance Transit-Oriented Development projects.  Developing buildings and other facilities to help promote bus and rail transit systems.  Stay tuned for an exciting 2010!

Chris Hackbarth works for the Michigan Municipal League, specializing in Transportation issues. You can contact him at 517-908-0303 or by e-mail.