Wikipedia

Transportation in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Transportation in Ann Arbor, Michigan is served by several highways, Amtrak and intercity bus lines, and the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport. Local public transportation is provided by Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA).

Streets and roads

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The streets in downtown Ann Arbor conform to a grid pattern, though this pattern is less common in the surrounding areas. Major roads branch out from the downtown district like spokes on a wheel to the highways surrounding the city. The city is belted by three freeways: I-94, which runs along the southern and western portion of the city; U.S. Highway 23 (US 23), which primarily runs along the eastern edge of Ann Arbor; and M-14, which runs along the northern edge of the city. Other nearby highways include US 12 (Michigan Ave.), M-17 (Washtenaw Ave.), and M-153 (Ford Rd.).

Several of the major surface arteries lead to the I-94/M-14 interchange in the west, US 23 in the east, and the city's southern areas.[1] Over 80,000 people commute into Ann Arbor each day from surrounding areas.[2]

Public transportation

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An AATA bus in front of the Blake Transit Center

The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), which brands itself as "TheRide", operates public bus services throughout the city and nearby Ypsilanti. The AATA operates the Blake Transit Center on Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor, and the Ypsilanti Transit Center.

A separate zero-fare bus service operates within and between the University of Michigan campuses. Since April 2012, the "AirRide" connects to Detroit Metro Airport a dozen times a day.[3]

Intercity buses

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Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service.[4] The Michigan Flyer, a service operated by Indian Trails, cooperates with AAATA for their AirRide and additionally offers bus service to East Lansing.[5] Megabus has direct service to Chicago, Illinois, while a bus service is provided by Amtrak for rail passengers making connections to services in East Lansing and Toledo, Ohio.

Walking and cycling

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Ann Arbor is considered one of the US's most walkable cities, with one sixth of Ann Arborites walking to work according to the 2020 census.[6][7] Ann Arbor has a gold designation by the Walk Friendly Communities program.[7] Since 2011, the city's property taxes have included a provision for sidewalk maintenance and expansions, expanding the sidewalk network, filling sidewalk gaps, and repairing existing sidewalks.[8] The city has created a sidewalk gap dashboard, which showed 143 miles of sidewalk gaps in May 2022.[9] The outlying parts of the city and the township districts between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti still contain markedly unwalkable areas.[10]

In 2019, 36% of trips in Ann Arbor were taken by walking, biking or transit.[11] In 2020, the city introduced a Healthy Streets program to encourage non-motorized transportation.[12] Between 2019 and 2022 Ann Arbor's Downtown Development Authority built four two-way protected bikeways downtown.[13] Early studies have shown a significant increase in bicycle use downtown since the construction of these bikeways.[14][15] In 2023, the city reported over 900 bicycle parking spaces downtown, though this is still a small portion compared to the over 8,000 car parking spots for cars.[16][17]

The Washtenaw County Border-to-Border Trail connects Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti, mostly along the Huron River, for pedestrians, bicycles and other non-motorized transportation.[18][19] In 2017, Spin scooters started providing a scooter share program in Ann Arbor, expanding this to include dockless e-bikes in 2023.[20][21][22]

Railroads

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Michigan Central Depot, Ann Arbor

The city was a major rail hub, notably for freight traffic between Toledo and ports north of Chicago, Illinois, from 1878 to 1982; however, the Ann Arbor Railroad also provided passenger service from 1878 to 1950, going northwest to Frankfort and Elberta on Lake Michigan and southeast to Toledo. (In Elberta connections to ferries across the Lake could be made.)[23][24] The city was served by the Michigan Central Railroad starting in 1837. The Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Street Railway, Michigan's first interurban, served the city from 1891 to 1929.[25]

Amtrak, which provides service to the city at the Ann Arbor Train Station, operates the Wolverine train between Chicago and Pontiac, via Detroit. The present-day train station neighbors the city's old Michigan Central Depot, which was renovated as a restaurant in 1970.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Official 2007 Department of Transportation Map (Map). 1 in:15 mi/1 cm:9 km. Michigan Department of Transportation. 2007. § C1–C11. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  2. ^ "Ann Arbor wants more housing and fewer cars. Is 'unzoning' the answer?". Bridge Michigan. February 25, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "New AirRide bus travels between Ann Arbor and Detroit Metro". Michigan Radio. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  4. ^ "Greyhound Relocates in Ann Arbor, Michigan" (Press release). Greyhound Lines, Inc. July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  5. ^ "Michigan Flyer—Home". Michigan Flyer. 2009. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  6. ^ "The Most Walkable Cities and How Some Are Making Strides". Governing. December 11, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Bruckner, Meredith (June 24, 2022). "Ann Arbor recognized as a national 'walk friendly' city". WDIV. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  8. ^ "Ann Arbor voters favor street and sidewalk millage proposals". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  9. ^ Stanton, Ryan (May 13, 2022). "Ann Arbor OKs nearly $500K plan to fill sidewalk gaps in 5 areas". mlive. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  10. ^ Stanton, Ryan (February 5, 2023). "Unsafe sidewalk conditions between Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti persist after years of talks". mlive. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  11. ^ Sumerton, Amy (July 25, 2023). "Transit in Transition". Ann Arbor Observer. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Benda, Emily (October 14, 2020). "Ann Arbor's Healthy Streets program test-drives non-motorized transportation infrastructure". Concentrate. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  13. ^ Benda, Emily (January 16, 2019). "Ann Arbor plans network of protected bike lanes, beginning construction this spring". Concentrate. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  14. ^ Stanton, Ryan (March 13, 2023). "Ann Arbor's new bikeways used by many, help grow bike ridership". mlive. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  15. ^ "Protected bike lanes in downtown Ann Arbor paying off as ridership increases". WEMU-FM. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  16. ^ "Walk Bike Drive in Ann Arbor". www.a2gov.org. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  17. ^ "Can You Dig It". Main Street Ann Arbor. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  18. ^ "Explore the Border to Border Trail". Border to Border. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  19. ^ Gallippo, Eric (December 14, 2016). "B2B Trail, Ypsi bike lanes to expand in 2017". Concentrate. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  20. ^ Stanton, Ryan (May 1, 2019). "Ford-owned Spin rolls out 200 electric scooters in Ann Arbor". mlive. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  21. ^ Bruckner, Meredith (March 31, 2023). "City of Ann Arbor to launch first shared e-bike program with community event on Monday". WDIV. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  22. ^ "Shared e-bikes program coming to Ann Arbor streets this week". WEMU-FM. April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  23. ^ "A Brief History". Central Michigan University—Clarke Historical Library. February 5, 2010. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  24. ^ American Rails, "Ann Arbor Railroad" https://www.american-rails.com/ann.html Archived October 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Pictorial History of Ann Arbor 1824–1974 (1880–1899) – Public Transportation and Changes in City Government". Ann Arbor District Library. December 24, 2006. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  26. ^ Drukas, Alexander J. (March 27, 2008). "Ann Arbor's classic brunch still delights". MLive.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
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