Innovative
Planning and Financing Strategies for Downtown Circulator Bus Route
in Ann Arbor, Michigan
– Presented at the National Academies of Sciences, Transportation
Research Board, January 2008 Annual Meeting, Washington DC
Published
in the Transportation Research Record,
Journal of the Transportation Research Board, December 2008, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3141/2063-15
This paper examines the creation, redefinition,
and success of a downtown circulator bus route (the Link) in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. Many in Ann Arbor had long desired a circulator
bus route to connect its diverse downtown business districts with
the University of Michigan campus. These desires came to fruition
in September 2003, when the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA)
launched the Link with funding from a federal Congestion Mitigation
and Air Quality grant. Despite a comprehensive planning process
that had included numerous local stakeholders, the route initially
suffered from low ridership and operational problems, prompting
many to question its future. However, by implementing an ongoing
planning process that continued to engage stakeholders, the AATA
developed new ideas that ultimately led to the successful redesign
of the route, improving its usefulness and encouraging the formation
of new partnerships to finance its ongoing operation.
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