Buses, bikes catch up to cars as a way to get to work in Ann Arbor

Buses, bikes, and plain old-fashioned feet are upending the solo-passenger car as the only route to work in Ann Arbor, as shown by a recent survey of about 250 employers and 275 employees released by getDowntown. The study was funded by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

The most significant finding, says Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntown, was "Seventy percent, the overwhelming majority of employers ... said it was very or somewhat important to have a variety of transportation options, not just parking, to attract high-quality workers and customers."

Additionally, about a quarter of businesses with 20 or more employees indicated that the availability of the go!pass, a downtown employer-funded unlimited-use transit pass for employees, was a factor in their choice of a downtown office location. go!pass usage in 2011 was 28% higher than in 2009, with 11% of respondents commuting regularly by bus and another 29% occasionally using buses, according to getDowntown.

Cycling also saw a significant bump from 2009, with 6% of those surveyed reporting regular bike commutes, up from 2% in 2009. While seemingly small, that's pretty large compared to most communities nationwide, Shore says. "And if you go off the 2000 census numbers that say there's about 10,000 employees downtown, 6% of 10,000 employees is a lot of bike commuters."

The winter bike commuting workshops held earlier in the season were also a success, according to Shore, with well-attended workshops and that portion of getDowntown's website attracting over 1,000 hits in a few months.

getDowntown will use the survey findings to help the AATA tailor its transit master plan and will also continue to advocate for more bike lanes, Shore says.

The survey also reinforced "the value of downtown living," Shore notes. Of employees within a half-mile to two-mile radius from work, 52% are walking, 18% are biking, and only 22% are driving. At two to four miles, 32% are driving and 33% are busing it.

Within four to 10 miles, though, 74% are still driving solo. getDowntown will be focusing on this group in particular, she says. "That's potentially a distance where using the bus actually might be not so hard."

Source: Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntown
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar