The Silverline Rapid Transit Bus to Nowhere Grand Rapids Michigan Part 2
First video shows Downtown Monroe Mall/Center at 6:30 p.m. This video goes back Downtown on April 28th while all the stores are open at 3:45 p.m. The Monroe Center mall appears very, very dead showing no need for replacing the current bus to this area. The most populated area seems to be near the Police Station/Parole Office/Secretary of State offices at the end.
ANOTHER CONCERN:The absolute caos this would mean as far as traffic on Division avenue is a concern for school children, drivers, and it would cause people to avoid the area. Kids have been hit by cars on the way to school and a young father was hit and killed recently on Division in Wyoming. RAPID TRANSIT system in Portland is glorified by supporters but they fail to note that their bus system has tunnels for buses, trains, arial trams.. and the fare is $2.30 cents currently
Supporters of this 40 plus million replacement bus on one street say places like N.Y.C. and L.A. have buses like this. Big fact that is ignored: these cities also have population densities to support the bus. Grand Rapids doesn’t have the population to support the currently running buses (many all over town are empty or nearly empty during afternoon and evening hours. ) State of the art Hybrid Electric Buses with bike carriers and wheel chair ramps run till nearly midnight.
GREAT IDEA: Take some of the evening empty buses and redeploy them to have more stops during peak times if a faster bus is sought. This would COST ZERO DOLLARS and save millions in federal funds and prevent a needless tax on families during this recession. (30 minutes from 54th street Meijers is not slow anyways, it is faster than 131 morning and afternoon bottlenecks before the S curve.)
See other video and visit http://www.grandrapidsbustonowhere.homestead.com for more information
or do a search for Bus to Nowhere to get more information. Vote NO on May 5th.
Seriously folks, there is absolutely positively no need for this replacement busline on one street that few people use for shopping or anything else. A slightly faster bus (mere minutes) is not going to take people away from the indoor suburban malls with parking that they perfer. We have Metro hospital and St. Mary’s on M-6 and Davenport and Calvin College on the East Beltline. This is not the center of West Michigan anymore. By the way, we already pay Kent County taxes to help support GRCC and the students I know that attend GRCC avoid the bus because of problems with agressive youth at the transfer station downtown and other stops. Even Rivertown Mall had problems with unruly youth at the bus stops.
Times change; business changes. Taxpayers can’t be asked to buy up long vacant real estate to bail out anyone even if the Federal Government will foot the bill.
Current bus stops everywhere have not spurred any jobs or redevelopment. Millions were spent on Monroe Mall cause they said this would bring back retail and bring jobs but it is a ghosttown.
Alaskan wised up and said NO to the Bridge to Nowhere. Michigan needs to say NO to unnecessary infrastructure changes that are only sought to get the Federal monies.
Don’t you wonder why all those property owners are paying millions on ABC television Prime Time like Dancing with the Stars? They want average Joe and Jane tax payer to buy up their unwanted, long vacant Division avenue properties.
Don’t fall for the hype. EXISTING BUS STOPS ALL ALONG DIVISION HAVE NOT SPURRED ANY REDEVELOPMENT OR JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Saying this COULD spur development or bring jobs is a cheap tatic to get peolple to vote in an unnecessary, wasteful tax. Don’t fall for it. I believe people are intelligent enough to see the truth with their own eyes:Take a ride on Division and see what all the bus stops have done. NOTHING! Restaurants can’t stay open, stores pull out. Times have changed. VOTE NO May 5th and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.
On Portland Oregon: Supporters say a rapid transit busline in this city helped spur development but again, they are not comparing apples to apples or comparable downtown cities. Portland Oregon has much milder winters, and two large waterfront parks that support all types of watercrafts and boats that connect to the ocean. This is a bigger draw than several downtown Lake Michigan waterfronts like Grand Haven. Grand Rapids Michigan doesn’t have this very attractive feature. Also they built their system on its own road for the safety of pedestrians and drivers!
VOTE NO on May 5th.
Duration : 0:5:10
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