Yesterday, I took the bus to work. I had not been in a city bus in a while. When I lived in downtown, I used the bus more often. I always had some issues with it, namely some routes not running after 5:45pm, or having to wait 45 minutes for the next bus. But overall, it worked out fine -- especially for a college student with no car. :)
I stopped riding the bus some time ago when I got a job outside of the city. A few months back, The Rapid put a bus stop near work so I had the change to start using public transportation again. Yet I didn't, because it would take me too long to get back from work in the bus. Yesterday, I took the bus just to help a co-worker figure out how to ride it. It took me 25 minutes to get to work -- just five minutes longer than driving through traffic. Yet, it took me almost an hour to get back. Not only that, but I got to work five minutes late, and had to leave 20 minutes early to catch the bus. If I didn't catch the 4:15pm bus, I would have to wait two hours for the next one!!!
My co-worker was very excited about the idea of saving money by riding the bus. But after he tried it yesterday, he was not as thrilled any more. His trip took an hour and a half -- including 25 minutes of waiting time. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean the buses suck? Big time.
The problem is that their ridership is not very high. Without more riders, they just can't afford to put up more routes, increase their frequency, or open sub-stations. But, why do people not ride the bus? Well, in my opinion, it is a combination of several powerful factors:
- There is a cultural barrier that people cannot easily get over. In this city's eyes, only hobos, poor students and weird people ride the bus. Being a Michigan city, conquered by Detroit's car manufacturers and their push towards highways and personal cars, this view is not easy to change. Yet, environmental concerns and high gas prices are slowly pushing more and more people into riding the bus. Unfortunately, this is a slow process, and it will not be successful until The Rapid can get people of all socioeconomic statuses to ride the bus.
- The Rapid does not have a good enough service. It has an excellent service in limited parts of the city, but overall, the service is poor. There are not enough routes, a high enough frequency, or early/late service. Unfortunately, unless ridership increases, service cannot improve. But if service does not improve, ridership will only increase slowly. It sounds like the proverbial chicken and egg.
- The city is not built to be people-friendly. By that I mean that everything is car-centric. For example, 28th street, which is a major commercial hub, lacks sidewalks and bike lanes. Most buildings along 28th are distant from one another, which means that even if sidewalks were available, people would have to walk long distances just to get from one business to the next. The few places that are easily accessible by foot are mostly in dangerous neighborhoods, or in Downtown. This brings me to my next example: Downtown Grand Rapids, unlike other cities, offers little for potential residents. There are only a few restaurants, a couple of very expensive hotels, and tons of bars. Unless you go there at night to drink, or have an office job during the day, there is not a lot to do. There is not even a single grocery store! Other centres such as Eastown, Plainfield, Cascade and Wyoming have much more to offer than Downtown Grand Rapids, and yet they offer significantly less public transportation options than Downtown Grand Rapids.
- There are no express services or sub-stations. Besides college express routes, there are no buses that will take you from one side of the city to the opposite side in a matter of minutes. There is no subway either. There is talk now of streetcars in Downtown, but with nothing to do there but drink, I don't really see the point. It just sounds like a very big waste of money -- money that could be better spent on express routes along East Belt Line, US-131, 28th St, 44th St, and a few sub stations. Did I mention that to go anywhere in the city, you almost always have to head towards Central Station in downtown first? Just imagine a 45-minute ride to Central Station plus another 45-minute ride to your destination, plus waiting time. Does that sound like a good service? Absolutely not.
- The service is still too expensive. At $1.30 for an adult ticket (and increasing every year), a transfers being limited to a one (different) bus within 2 hours, the service is too expensive. Monthly passes are now $35, which make a bit more sense. However, since there is a limited service on weekends, one must still spend extra money on gas to drive, which makes the $35 a commodity.
I am a great defender and proponent of public transportation. I want to give my city access to a good public transportation service. However, I just don't know how to make the service better in Grand Rapids. I'm not sure how to change the public transportation culture either. I'm not sure how to make the bus work for my co-worker who has an hour and half ride ahead of him. The Rapid won't work for my friends who can't take the bus to work because it doesn't run early enough, or who can't ride the bus to school at night because they'll have no way to get back home after class. I understand that public transportation is vital for the progress of the city. So the question is, how do we improve The Rapid and make people want to ride it?