A WAVE bus sitting at the side of the road, near a bus stop with a number of people waiting for an incoming bus (to Ann Arbor). Countywide transit in action.
Jackson & Wagner
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Note that this intersection is the western terminus of the planned Washtenaw Connector, a high-capacity transit line (rail, bus rapid transit, etc.) that is in the Transit Master Plan.
As a sometime rider of the WAVE, I have to say that it leaves a lot to be desired as an extension of AATA. It might work fine as a commuter service to Chelsea, but it doesn’t run very often and it is expensive. Let’s push that rail line out to Zeeb!
So I assume that you support a millage for Scio Township to pay for it?
You bet. It’s not easy trying to squeeze a dime out of the libertarian paradise of Scio, alas. AATA used to run buses farther out until the Scio board decided to cut the truly minuscule amount of funding that took.
Scio doesn’t really have a “downtown” but, oddly enough, has a DDA, centered on the Jackson and Zeeb area, with a corridor along Jackson. There are some pretty good sized businesses there (Meijer and Lowe’s are the biggest, but also places like Quality 16 and Comcast), that draw workers from Ann Arbor and Ypsi, and it’s not easy for the ones without cars to get to work. I gave a woman a ride one day who took the bus out to Wagner and Jackson and then walked three miles to work at Metzger’s (Jackson and Zeeb) every day. I’m sure she’s not the only one to make that. If the Scio DDA really wants commercial development, it would really make sense for them to advocate for (or fund) transit, just so employees could get to work.
Scio’s not really likely to become another Pittsfield soon–any intensive development is really restricted to the pretty narrow water/sewer district–so I don’t think pushing transit out another three miles is like to create a lot more sprawl. What it would do is knit things together a little more tightly with Ann Arbor.
Scio’s cancellation of bus service also stranded the clients at Alpha House shelter. We heard some horrific stories about that at the public hearing on the 4-party agreement.
Yep. That’s another of the frustrations.
To be clear, I think the responsibility is totally Scio’s on this–I’m not suggesting that Ann Arbor build us a transit system.