Jump to content

Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

 Share

Recommended Posts

fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

Posted
Posted

The Rapid just announced on Twitter (@TheRapid) that they have just applied to be a part of Google Transit. It's now up for Google to approve and include them in Google Transit.

Well it's about time! It's been a long time since word of this first leaked out. And plenty of other cities have been added since then.

A while ago I wrote Google's business development department about transit tracking in Metro Grand Rapids. Maybe they'll be able to partner with ITP in the next 18 months to get a feature on iGoogle? Google is watching :ph34r:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 3.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

WMrapids
WMrapids

All this talk about rail made me find these from the library

GR_Urbanist
GR_Urbanist

Fancy new Laker Line stop at the zoo!

BLUESCRUBS
BLUESCRUBS

Proposal to establish regional bus line gets support from Grand Rapids metro group. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/08/proposal-to-establish-regional-bus-line-gets-support-from-grand

Posted Images

jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Rapid just announced on Twitter (@TheRapid) that they have just applied to be a part of Google Transit. It's now up for Google to approve and include them in Google Transit.

:good::yahoo: :yahoo: :alc:

Can't wait until I can pull out my phone while I'm waiting at the stop and see where the next bus is at or be able to use Google Maps to create routes instantly! I've been using the Beta test site that was posted and that was worked great (although a bit slow)

Edited by jbr12
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Veloise City

Veloise

Posted
Posted

I like the tagline "might be expensive." And then there's absolutely nothing in the body of the article to elaborate on that statement. :rofl:

If the millage passes, the owner of a $150,000 home would pay an extra $12 a year, starting in 2012 for the Silver Line.

I guess if you are buying a cup of coffee, $12 is expensive.

Wonder if there are any on-line resources, say, maps, that could elucidate the proposed Silver Line route?

Parenthetically, NPR had a piece about local media coverage being outsourced to Bangalore. I am not making this up; with digital coverage of events like city council meetings, someone half a world away can keyboard a piece to fill up a news hole, at a fraction of the pennies-per-word paid a local journalist who'd actually attend the meeting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well it's about time! It's been a long time since word of this first leaked out. And plenty of other cities have been added since then.

I think they were in a long line of transit agencies trying to get the app.

Why I decided to wade into the muddy gene pool of the WOODTV forum is beyond me. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites
suydam Hamlet

suydam

Posted
Posted

Parenthetically, NPR had a piece about local media coverage being outsourced to Bangalore. I am not making this up; with digital coverage of events like city council meetings, someone half a world away can keyboard a piece to fill up a news hole, at a fraction of the pennies-per-word paid a local journalist who'd actually attend the meeting.

Friedman talked about that in The World is Flat a few years ago.

I don't find that any more or less troubling than many other outsourced jobs.

It'll work, or it won't. If it doesn't, the jobs will come back (ahem... call centers).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

Posted
Posted (edited)

Friedman talked about that in The World is Flat a few years ago.

I don't find that any more or less troubling than many other outsourced jobs.

It'll work, or it won't. If it doesn't, the jobs will come back (ahem... call centers).

:offtopic:

I was talking to a friend of a friend who lives in Mt. Pleasant while we were car pooling down to mtn bike at Yankee Springs. He has an IT job that allows him not to be tied to living in a particular place. He stated that some of the Indian software firms that we have "outsourced" to are now outsourcing their own work to programmers in Nairobi, Kenya because it's cheaper than the labor in India.

Edited by fotoman311
Link to comment
Share on other sites
d8alterego Whistle-Stop

d8alterego

Posted
Posted

I may have to eat my words.

Interesting read, although not new to most.

It's a horribly sobering article about the realities of high speed rail. I honestly don't ever foresee a US high speed rail line in my lifetime, and I'm only 26.

Maybe the silver lining is that the president acknowledges it and will do something about it. He did mention Michigan. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

Posted
Posted (edited)

Any idea if that Michigan route is Chicago<->Holland<->GR<->Lansing<->Detroit or Chicago<->Kalamazoo<->Ann Arbor<->Detroit?

It is the second route you mentioned. The Chicago-Holland-GR route is mentioned as the last part of phase II in the letter the governors sent.

Here's the letter: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=16392

Although it could see increased service, I wouldn't count on seeing that line get too much infrastructure attention before 2015 (unless something changes), and that is assuming a republican, who doesn't see the value of rail transit, does not get elected in 2012.

You might see a better bus service running multiple times per day between GR and K-zoo. I would like to see that.

Edited by fotoman311
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rizzo City

Rizzo

Posted
Posted (edited)

The opposition is being lead by people who think we should shop at Rivertown Crossings Mall instead of downtown and that the bus will cost 110$M. I kid you not. Or that no one works or commutes to downtown, plus we should boycott Brann's and Gordy's. How in the hell do you expect us to boycott Gordy's fried cauliflower?!?! If the millage should fail it will be because people are in uncertain times and don't understand why transit is important. They'll just see this as another tax for a project they don't understand. I'm not going to blame them for that -- almost every BRT project in the nation has resulted in people with blank stares.

Edited by Rizzo
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Allison Slater Town

Allison Slater

Posted
Posted

I keep forgetting to take a photojournalistic photo I've had in the back of my mind which I know will be easy to get.

A bus filled to standing room, or a bus at a stop with a large line of people waiting to hop on. I'll title it "Vote no on the Silver Line because nobody uses the bus." Should be a photo that would normally make someone think that service might need to be upgraded. I'll probably grab it tomorrow sometime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John E Burg

John E

Posted
Posted

That is a great idea! I have been on a bus with standing room only countless times. That happens often on nice Saturday afternoons on the Alpine Route 9. I think most of the major routes are standing room only during prime afternoon hours during the week.

You may want to get a shot of the Rapid Central station canopy during a rush hour line-up. I wonder how many hundreds of people are accommodated there.

~John

Link to comment
Share on other sites
d8alterego Whistle-Stop

d8alterego

Posted
Posted

So let me get this straight (I seldom do lol): These anti-tax and conservative leaning commentors are upset because The Rapid is asking for a renewal and slight increase to their budget?

WOW. Seriously? Hmmm, maybe they have forgotten that The Rapid has been the BEST transit system in the nation for multiple years now. So if they feel the BEST in the nation doesn't DESERVE a tax renewal and slight increase, then these people shouldn't be voting. They have no understanding at all about transit and its benefits. It really makes me sick to think that if their reasoning prevails and the millage doesn't pass, it will set back GR's advancing transit for the foreseeable future.

No wonder people can't take these people seriously when it comes to solving our societal problems. I just hope they are in the rapidly dwindling minority.

Hey Dad, remember back when you were talking about light rail through GRCC? Well, looks like that caught on with some leadership!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Honestly, I think a lot of people go by the text of the ballot question. This is it for May 5th:

THE RAPID (INTERURBAN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP)

Shall The Rapid (Interurban Transit Partnership) levy a tax for public transportation

purposes of up to 1.28 mills beginning in 2012? This millage would be a renewal of the 1.12 mills

approved by the voters in 2007 and an addition of 0.16 mills. The 1.28 mills would replace the last

year of the current millage for the year 2012. At least 0.16 mills would be used only for the Bus

Rapid Transit (

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.