Mass transit round-up in Ann Arbor area

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

Mass transit advocates won one and lost one in Ann Arbor this month. Welcome the Canton Express commuter bus. Say goodbye to The Link bus loop through downtown.

The Canton Express began operation earlier this week, connecting commuters from the Plymouth/Canton area to downtown Ann Arbor. The bus makes two trips from Canton's Independence Park in the morning and returns twice in the afternoon. It makes stops at the University of Michigan, U-M Hospital and downtown.

The Canton Express is run on the same concept as an identical line between Chelsea and Ann Arbor. The Chelsea line started last year and has built a steady ridership. The idea is to help downtown and U-M workers make their daily commute more efficiently, allowing more people to use downtown without having to find homes for their cars.

Gone is The Link downtown bus. The little purple busses connected downtown and far reaches of U-M's campus with a number of stops in between, similar to how The People Mover works in downtown Detroit. The Link, which has been around for most of this decade, never lived up to ridership expectations and was cut so the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority could maintain other bus services.

Source: Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke