AATA board votes to enter agreement with city of Ann Arbor for new bus pullout near Arborland
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board of directors unanimously voted to allow AATA leaders to sign an agreement with the city of Ann Arbor to construct a bus pullout opposite of Arborland mall.
Arborland had a major bus stop and transfer station in its parking lot until July 1, 2009, when the shopping center ended the AATA’s lease on the station. The new bus pullout will be constructed on eastbound Washtenaw Avenue, east of Pittsfield Boulevard, AATA spokeswoman Mary Stasiak said.
“The biggest benefit is both to the traffic flow as well as to the safety of our passengers using our service,” Stasiak said.
The closing of the Arborland bus stop affected an estimated 1,000 bus riders per day after 30 years of use. At the time, AATA officials said the main issue Arborland had with the bus stop was the 150 parking spots being used by commuters.
The project will cost about $154,000 and will be paid for with federal stimulus money granted to the AATA. Construction is scheduled to begin in the end of April and will be wrapped up by the end of June, Stasiak said.
The bus pullout will be the first wave of projects at the site, with a new passenger shelter to be built at some point in the future, Stasiak said.
Stasiak said the decision reached by board members would allow the AATA to use the city of Ann Arbor’s experience in road construction projects such as this.
“It’s an example of an intergovernmental cooperation for AATA to leverage the city’s expertise in these types of projects,” she said. “We’re not an organization that typically does a lot of these projects, so it make it much more beneficial to the project to have someone who has experience in this sort of thing.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
jns131
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 4:28 p.m.
The dumbest thing for Arborland to do was to close that bus stop and make it across the street where no one can get to the shops safely. Look at Borders. They are closing because their business is down. Gee, I wonder why. They were the ones who complained about their shoppers unable to get to their store. That side of Borders is almost a desert ghost land. Sad and sorry shape this had to come to. Great idea for AATA to do this. They really need this and the safety is most important.
PatK
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 4:09 p.m.
I hope this means that we won't have to cross Washtenaw Ave. to transfer to another bus anymore. I have taking a taxi (very expensive) just to avoid crossing a very busy & dangerous road. This is especially true for the elderly and the handicap.
scott
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 2:52 a.m.
@ jimbob i hear ya i can only ride the bus to work and i can't ride it home. The AATA should have 24hr service on some routes.
Steve Hendel
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 11 a.m.
Right. Would you willingly pay higher taxes to support that? Maybe you would, but it seems to me most people want better service for themselves from government, and at the same time have an elaborate rationale why ALL taxpayers should pay for it.
scott
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 2:49 a.m.
This better not affect my route LOL it works prefect right now.
Justin
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 2:30 a.m.
I'm glad the owners of ArborLand removed the bus stop in the parking lot. Things had gotten so congested from all the Borders shopper.
jns131
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 4:30 p.m.
Borders lost business and declared bankruptcy. Gee, I wonder why. There was no congestion there. It was all trumped up by Borders to have more parking for themselves. Good riddance to Borders for doing such a shameful thing.
jimbob24
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 2:23 a.m.
$400 of my property taxes went to the AATA last year and I've never ridden the bus. It doesn't start early enough and doesn't run late enough for work. STOP SUBSIDIZING THE AATA.
Moore
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 1:10 a.m.
Need to have a bus stop on or by Huron river and Whittiker
murph
Sun, Apr 3, 2011 : 12:30 a.m.
That would be the Ypsilanti *Township* board and voters, specifically.
jns131
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 4:32 p.m.
Agreed. I too have asked AATA how to get one there. They said Ypsi council and voters need to want it. Would be great over there. AATA did remove it because of low ridership. I think after building a few things over there it might reinstate.
hroad
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 11:55 p.m.
I hope the passenger shelter will be completely enclosed so the transferring bus passengers can have more shelter from harsh weather. The current shelters provide only minimum protection from Michigan's cold winters.
belboz
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 8:06 p.m.
Great. Now how about AATA figures out a way to reduce costs. We are subsidizing every rider $4.03 per ride, or $24 million per year. Either that, or maybe riders can contribute more than just slightly over 10% of the actual cost. 2009: 6,081,000 Riders $3,117,011 Riders Paid for the Year $0.51 Paid per Ride $27,606,000 Yearly Expenses $24,488,989 Subsidy for the Year $4.03 Subsidy per Rider $4.54 True Cost per Ride
DDOT1962
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 1:02 p.m.
@belboz: Please cite where your numbers came from.
Brad
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 11:59 a.m.
"hmm, I wonder if we did the opposite math on that?" Feel free. Math beats wondering every time.
aabikes
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 8:31 p.m.
hmm, I wonder if we did the opposite math on that? 6,081,000 riders driving cars instead _______ extra cars on road _______ extra minutes in traffic from increased congestion _______ additional tons of CO2, NOx, CO _______ dollars in road repairs _______ more accidents _______lost jobs for drivers, admin, etc. Then we can find out if we are getting what we are paying for? Would be interesting. I mean, we are certainly not just throwing away that entire $4.03 subsidy.
leaguebus
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 7:51 p.m.
The AATA needs to figure out how to deal with the loss of the stop inside Fox Village on N. Maple. I just got stuck behind a bus doing a time stop at the driveway of Vets park. Missed two lights before I could get out from behind the bus. The busses should not be able to block a busy street like N. Maple for two or three minutes because they are early to that stop. Put the stop inside the Vets parking lot, but get it off the street.
Halter
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 7:50 p.m.
What? What's a bus pullout? What does this mean? What are you telling us? How will this help traffic? How will this be safer for bus riders? How is this different from what is already there?
Halter
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 9:18 p.m.
What the heck is a "bus pullout"??? What are they talking about?...
Steve Hendel
Sat, Apr 2, 2011 : 10:50 a.m.
There IS nothing there, that's the whole point of the story, which in fact has the answers to most of your questions.