The effort to reestablish passenger rail between southeast Michigan and the Traverse City and Petoskey areas reached another major milestone when the Groundwork Center and the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) selected rail industry experts, Transportation Economics and Management Systems (TEMS), to explore costs and create a business plan for regular train service.
The Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA), which provides bus service for the Grand Traverse area, will ask local voters for continued support during a May 2 millage. Groundwork fully supports this millage because we believe that BATA provides a crucial service for the future of the region.
Groundwork opposes Traverse City’s Proposal 3, which would bypass elected officials and potentially let citizens decide limits on building heights in Traverse City.
We’ve officially announced the major northern Michigan passenger rail study that will explore regular service between Ann Arbor and the Petoskey and Traverse City areas. The announcement took place last week at press conference along the tracks at Traverse City’s former train depot.
Back in 2012 it took me more than two hours and a bus change to get to downtown Detroit from its Metro Airport–the 44th busiest airport in the world. But finally, after decades of trying to create a modern transit system in southeast Michigan, regional leaders have a plan to make getting around much easier.
The letters of support keep coming in. City after city, from Ann Arbor to Petoskey, is making it clear to state and federal officials that they support passenger trains.