MASS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY PRIMARY ROUTES STUDY

MASS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
PRIMARY ROUTES STUDY
MTA is conducting the first complete study of its routes. The purpose of the study is to improve your transit service, and help
get people in Flint and Genesee County where they need to go, faster and more efficiently.
Flint’s bus system is about the right size for a city of its size, but too small for the number of people it carries. It needs more
funding—to run buses more often, for longer hours, and go to more places – in order for people in Flint and Genesee County
to have the bus service they need. Very little can be done to improve the service without more money to buy more buses
and to pay more drivers, mechanics, and other staff. MTA will need additional funding in order to make real improvements
to its service.
MTA staff and consultants have proposed changes that MTA can make immediately to make the service work better, and
changes that MTA can make over the next few years as more money becomes available. We need you to review these
proposed changes to make sure that they meet your needs and—most importantly—to tell MTA if any of the changes will
make your trip worse. We also need you to tell us which of the long term changes is most important to you. This will help
MTA prioritize the changes it makes in the future.
WHAT CAN WE DO SOON?
2015: GROCERY STORE ACCESS
The Meijer at Pierson and Linden and the
Kroger on Davison Road are closing.
2015: Changes Beginning April 3rd
Shopper Route
Eliminated section of Miller-Linden
Eliminated section of Crosstown North
To make sure residents in those areas still
have options for grocery shopping and other
The Miller-Linden and Crosstown
retail needs, MTA is making the following
North routes will be extended west
changes to its routes beginning on April 3rd:
of Linden Rd and end at the Aldi
A new shopper route will connect the
on Pierson.
Kroger at Richfield and Center with
•The Crosstown North route will be
the Walmart at E. Court and Belsay.
extended west of Linden Road and end
at the Aldi at 5340 Pierson Road.
•The Miller-Linden route will also end at
the Aldi on Pierson Road, rather than at
the Meijer.
•A new shopper route will connect the
Kroger at Richfield and Center Road
with the Walmart on East Court Street
near Belsay Road, and provide transfer
opportunities with the Franklin and
Richfield routes. This route will operate hourly from 9am-2:30pm on weekdays, and from 10am-3pm on Saturdays.
2016: REDUCE OVERCROWDING AND IMPROVE SATURDAY SERVICE
To reduce the overcrowding on the Franklin route between the Transit Center and Mott Community College, the Lewis-Selby
route will be rerouted on days when the college is in session. On other days, the route will continue to operate on its current
alignment. Riders who need service on East Kearsley should use the Downtown Campus shuttle, which serves that area.
Beginning in 2016, MTA will receive about $300,000 a year in additional funds from changes in the tax millages it receives.
This additional funding is expected to grow to about $1 million a year by 2018.
MTA found that its most critical need is to provide more service on Saturdays. MTA operates only hourly service on Saturdays
and Sundays, but many MTA riders work on weekends, while others need to shop and run other errands. As a result, many
MTA routes are very overcrowded on Saturdays. Beginning in 2016, MTA will run service every half hour on Saturdays on
the following six routes: North Saginaw, MLK Avenue, Civic Park, Franklin, Lapeer, and Beecher-Corunna. In addition, MTA
will continue operating supplemental Saturday service on Miller-Linden between the Genesee Valley Mall and downtown.
CHANGE IS COMING. HAVE YOUR SAY.
MASS TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
PRIMARY ROUTES STUDY
AFTER 2018
MTA found many more transit needs in Flint and Genesee County that could not be met with the money that is now available.
They developed a “wish list” of improvements that they would like to make when money is available. We are looking to you
to help us prioritize that list. Which of these improvements planned for after 2018 would help you the most?
WHAT CAN WE DO IN THE FUTURE?
2018: SAGINAW BUS RAPID TRANSIT
AFTER 2018: NORTH
The North and South Saginaw routes are among MTA’s most
heavily used. The City of Flint has also designated parts
of North and South Saginaw as important redevelopment
focus areas. The Heritage Park Walmart, as well as the
growth of the Genesys Health Campus and other proposed
development along South Saginaw and Holly Road, will
make that area a more important destination in the future.
MTA would like to make using the bus on Saginaw better for
its existing customers, and help the communities to develop
these areas, by creating a bus rapid transit system along
North and South Saginaw.
By 2018, MTA proposes to run the North Saginaw route
every 20 minutes during daytime hours. The other routes on
the north side of Flint (MLK Avenue, Civic Park, and Dupont)
are some of the busiest in the system. If additional funding
becomes available, one or more of these routes could also
be increased from every 30 minutes to every 20 minutes
to make them less crowded and to reduce wait times. MTA
will monitor these routes and determine whether, and when,
improvements can be made.
AFTER 2018: SOUTH
By 2018, MTA intends to operate the South Saginaw route
every 20 minutes during daytime hours between downtown
and the Heritage Park Walmart. This service marks the
beginning of BRT service improvements on South Saginaw.
Service on Saginaw south of Hill Road would continue to
operate hourly. Beyond 2018, as funding permits and the
Genesys Health Campus and surrounding area grows,
MTA proposes to increase service on South Saginaw south
of Hill Road, and would extend BRT stations and other
improvements into that area.
Hill Road and South Dort Highway are two areas with
many apartment complexes, shopping centers, and other
destinations that MTA now does not serve. In the longer
term, when funding is available, MTA proposes:
•A branch of the South Saginaw route would continue
west along Hill Road to the Meijer at Hill and Torrey Road.
•A new route that would operate along South Dort Highway
to the Heritage Park Walmart. The Lapeer route would be
rerouted to eliminate overlap with this new South Dort
Highway route.
AFTER 2018: WEST
By 2018, MTA proposes to operate the Miller-Linden route
every 20 minutes during daytime hours between downtown
and the Corunna Road Walmart. Service north of Corunna
Road would be reduced to hourly service.
In order to improve transit on the west side of Flint and better
connect people to the shopping opportunities along Miller
and Linden and the medical destinations along Beecher
Road, MTA proposes to replace the Beecher-Corunna route
with three routes operating from downtown on Corunna
Road, West Court Street, and Beecher-Flushing. The Court
Street and Corunna Road routes would meet the MillerLinden route at the Corunna Road Walmart. The BeecherFlushing route would provide additional service along the
University Avenue corridor.
AFTER 2018: EAST
When additional funding becomes available, MTA proposes
to change the Richfield route to make it connect better to
key destinations on the east side, including the Kroger at
Richfield and Center. MTA then will replace the Kroger-toWalmart shopper route (to begin operating on April 3rd) with
a route from the downtown Transit Center to the East Court
Street Walmart.
CHANGE IS COMING. HAVE YOUR SAY.
We want to hear from you about what you think of the proposed changes to the primary routes and how they will affect your
transportation options. Please talk with a MTA representative, fill out a comment card, or submit your comments by email
to mtamail@mtaflint.org.
CHANGE IS COMING. HAVE YOUR SAY.