Moving The Needle on Public Transportation

“Keep gathering more and more people like you have today and continue to work for increased public transportation,” were the words of Congressman Vern Ehlers at the Annual Kent County Legislative Lunch on Transit on February 22nd. Disability Advocates has been about just that and, along with our many partners, we continue to work for expanded public transportation services for everyone.

Much is happening in our community concerning the future of our transit infrastructure. First, The Rapid has been working on a new long range plan (http://rapidtmp.org). Early last Fall, two persons with disabilities, Casey Dutmer and Rae Bower, were appointed by The Rapid to serve on the citizen committee overseeing the re-write, with Casey being elected vice chair. Last November, The Rapid then held six community workshops to get input on what residents of its six member communities felt is important about our current transit system and what they would like to see in the future. Just last week, The Rapid launched the next phase of public input via a survey to rank the priorities that were identified.

Second, the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council is getting ready to launch the Kent County Transit Needs Assessment. DAKC and our partners have been working many years to get to this point in the process. The Kent County Board of Commissioners first looked at the issue and then sent it along to the Metro Council who has taken up the charge. Funds have been secured and a consultant selected—this spring, once again the public will asked to discuss our transit needs. The difference between these two studies is that The Rapid’s long range plan is focused on the six, central cities of Kent County whereas the Metro Council’s work will focus on county-wide service. Of course, these two studies have been and will continue to be well coordinated. You can bet that DAKC volunteers will be there making sure of that!

Since everything we do locally to increase public transit services is greatly impacted by state and federal decisions, we knew it was time to gather our elected officials to hear their thoughts on and support for public transportation. DAKC with Concerned Citizens for Improved Transportation, Faith In Motion and The Essential Needs Task Force Transportation Subcommittee hosted this year’s Legislative Lunch on Transit. Not only did we get into the transit issue with our elected officials, this was also the community’s first opportunity to thank Congressman Ehlers for his tremendous efforts and support of public transportation throughout his career. For instance, while in office Congressman Ehlers has helped secure over $100 million in federal investment in The Rapid. As for our state officials, Senator Bill Hardiman and Representatives Bob Dean, Dave Hildenbrand, Tom Pearce and Roy Schmidt were in attendance.

At the end of his comments, when asked what the most important thing citizens could do to support transit in Washington, Congressman Ehlers did not hesitate to offer, “Make sure my replacement is a transit supporter!” DAKC plans to help in that effort, too. We plan to co-host candidate forums on transit and other issues critical to the independence of persons with disabilities in our community, such as housing, Medicaid, Medicare and employment supports. As DAKC’s work in the arena of public transportation has shown, we have been involved in improving our community supports for a long time. Our plan is to remain active and vigilant as we work to build on our success to make a more inclusive community for all persons with disabilities in Kent County.

SIDEBAR

“Make sure my replacement is a transit supporter!” --Congressman Vern Ehlers

CHECK OUT these TRANSIT WEBSITES!!!

Disability Advocates of Kent County, www.dakc.us/transit.php

The Rapid, http://rapidtmp.org/

Drive MI Campaign, http://www.drivemi.org/

Transportation for America,http://t4america.org/

To “Get Involved”, go to: http://www.dakc.us/getinvolved.php

For more information, click on David Bulkowski or contact him at 949-1100, Ext. 228 or
Frank Lynn at 949-1100, Ext. 238.