By Howard Spence,
Eaton County Commissioner
Eaton County Commissioner
There is a present unmet need for fixed route public transportation in Delta Township along regularly scheduled routes. At the present time, most Delta Township residents do not have reasonable access to public transportation on a bus system which will reliably get them to their jobs, educational institutions, and friends in the Greater Lansing Metropolitan areas of Lansing and East Lansing.
While there is a public transportation system provided within Eaton County by EATRAN (which is the county public transportation authority), that public transportation system is an “on demand” or taxicab type of transportation service which has limited potential to service the larger numbers of Delta Township residents or guests staying at hotels within Delta Township who might desire or need to utilize public transportation from within Delta Township to locations in Lansing and East Lansing which are adjacent to Delta Township. EATRAN does not provide a bus service to Delta Township residents designed to transport them outside of Eaton County into the city of Lansing or into East Lansing.
CATA, which is the public transportation organization providing bus service along fixed schedule routes, primarily within the Greater Lansing metropolitan area in Ingham County, provides a very limited fixed route bus transportation service into Eaton County along Saginaw Highway for about a mile and a half to the Lansing Mall. The great majority of Delta Township residents who might desire to utilize public bus transportation services provided by CATA to get to locations in Lansing and beyond presently have to travel two to three miles to get to the nearest CATA bus stop which is at the Lansing Mall.
Delta Township residents who are able to make a connection to CATA at the Lansing Mall which would take them into the Greater Lansing metropolitan area have to pay a “surcharge” which almost doubles their cost of bus service compared to what CATA charges to riders within Ingham County. If those persons are able to get to the nearest CATA bus stop in Ingham County (located at the intersection of Saginaw Highway and Waverly Road), they can board CATA buses there for the regular, much more reasonable rate.
Public Transportation planners and the providers of public transportation must realize that Delta Township has a significant potential for additional riders who would utilize public transportation by bus if it was safe, clean, efficient, and dependable in terms of being on a schedule along regular fixed bus routes picking up passengers throughout the areas in which those residents were located. Utilization of public transportation to downtown Lansing and beyond should also be significantly greater if riders could depend on return bus service being available at times when those riders would need to be able to return back to their homes in Delta Township in the evening hours after work and classes. EATRAN does not provide bus service within Delta Township after 6 pm.
Eventually a regional unified public transportation system is inevitable and, in my opinion, desirable if the objective is to provide efficient service to the greatest number of residents and guests possible at the lowest cost. In the interim, existing entities – such as CATA and EATRAN – must better collaborate with the end in sight of meeting the unmet needs of the public rather than merely protecting organizational self-interest.
To provide improved public transportation in Delta Township and throughout the Tri- County region would not necessarily require significant additional funding or new funding sources. Improvements in public transportation here could likely occur from a reallocation of present resources in a way which recognizes the fact that we are a diverse Tri-County region with a variety of differing public transportation needs. Eaton County is a diverse County where all citizens deserve to have their public transportation needs met in a fair and affordable manner.
While “on demand” bus service is certainly a benefit for some residents in Delta Township and for many residents in more rural areas of Eaton County, greater value to Delta Township residents and our visitors in Delta Township would, in my opinion, be provided by a dependable and regularly scheduled bus service which runs along Saginaw Highway past the hotels, apartments, and condominium communities near the Saginaw and Canal Road intersections, back through the Lansing Mall, and then downtown to Lansing for connection on to East Lansing.
On an interim or “band aid” basis, I would advocate for EATRAN being authorized to establish and develop fixed route “feeder” routes along the Saginaw highway corridor to interconnect with CATA at the Lansing mall. If resources allowed, EATRAN should shortly thereafter utilize an expanded fixed route concept to provide regular fixed feeder route services to the Lansing mall CATA hub from Grand Ledge and Eaton Rapids as well as to and from the Eaton County governmental complex in Charlotte so that residents in those areas of Eaton County could also have low cost public bus transportation into the city of Lansing and beyond.
If EATRAN does not have the authority, desire, or ability to establish regular fixed route public transportation routes within Delta Township which interconnect with CATA into the city of Lansing, then CATA should be solicited to extend its Lansing mall route all the way to the Marketplace retail area and back to the Lansing mall along the Saginaw corridor of Delta Township.
I have issued a more detailed public policy position paper on public transportation for Delta Township residents which I have posted on my website at http://www.commissionerhowardspence.com/page20.html. A copy of a 2010 consultant’s study of public transportation needs and utilization in Delta Township is also accessible from a link on that page.
Residents in Delta Township are encouraged to share their views with their elected government officials here in Delta Township and Eaton County. Residents and others can communicate with me through by telephone at (517) 481-5900, or by email sent to me at CommissionerHowardSpence@Gmail.com
This was printed in the October 6, 2013 – October 19, 2013 Edition
