**South Corridor BRT**

**Grand Rapids, Michigan**

(November 2007)

The Interurban Transit Partnership (*The Rapid*) is proposing to
implement a 9.8-mile street-running bus rapid transit (BRT) line along
Division Avenue from the Grand Rapids central business district to
60^th^ Street/Division Avenue. The project includes 19 new stations with
a real-time passenger information system, signal priority, off-board
fare collection and the purchase of ten low-floor branded vehicles. The
proposed service would operate with ten-minute headways during peak
periods and 15-minute headways during weekday off-peak periods.

+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Summary Description**            |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Proposed Project:**              | Bus Rapid Transit               |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| ** **                              | 9.8 Miles                       |
|                                    |                                 |
|                                    | 19 Stations                     |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Total Capital Cost (\$YOE):**    | \$36.67 Million (Includes \$1.1 |
|                                    | million in finance charges)     |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Section 5309 Small Starts Share  | \$29.33 Million (80.0%)         |
| (\$YOE):**                         |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Annual Operating Cost (\$YOE):** | \$2.40 Million                  |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Opening Year Ridership Forecast  | 7,200 Average Weekday Boardings |
| (2012):**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| ** **                              | 1,300 Daily New Riders          |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2009 Local Financial          | # Medium                        |
| Commitment Rating:**               |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2009 Project Justification    | **Medium**                      |
| Rating:**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2009 Overall Project          | **Medium**                      |
| Rating:**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+

**Project Development History and Current Status**

In January 2007 *The Rapid* completed an alternatives analysis study
that identified BRT as the locally preferred alternative (LPA) in the
South Corridor. The LPA was included in the Grand Valley Metropolitan
Council's (local metropolitan planning organization) long-range
transportation plan in April 2007. FTA notified Congress of its intent
to approve the project into Small Starts project development in November
2007, and expects to take the formal approval action in December 2007.
Revenue operations are scheduled for January 2012 to allow sufficient
time for project development to progress and secure local funding.

**[Project Justification Rating: Medium]{.underline}**

The project is rated *Medium* for project justification based on a
*Medium* rating for cost effectiveness and a *Medium* rating for
transit-supportive land use. The rating for the project's *Making the
Case* document was not factored into the project justification rating
for FY 2009.

####### *Making the Case Rating: Medium*

The South Corridor project is an arterial BRT line (with sections of
bus-only lanes) proposed to run from downtown Grand Rapids south along
Division Avenue.  The "case" for the project cites an opportunity to
provide improved transit service for the highest ridership route in
Grand Rapids and to improve the connectivity to downtown employment
areas.  The project corridor has about 7,200 existing riders who would
benefit from the proposed project.  The "case" for the project cites a
16 percent improvement in travel times with service frequencies between
two and four times existing peak frequencies, but failed to describe the
current service levels or any particular problems with the current
service.  The project corridor is economically distressed with a
significant population of transit dependent people, but the "case" did
not describe the degree to which transit dependent riders would benefit
from the project, nor did it describe the travel patterns or key travel
markets in the corridor.

####### 

####### *Cost Effectiveness Rating: Medium*

The South Corridor BRT project qualifies as a Very Small Start. The
project includes low-cost elements such as service branding, low-floor
buses operating at higher frequencies, transit stations with real-time
passenger information, off-board fare collection and traffic signal
priority to speed service, all of which FTA has determined to be
cost-effective by their very nature, and therefore, the project receives
a *Medium* rating for cost-effectiveness.

***Transit-Supportive Land Use Rating: Medium***

FTA considers Very Small Starts projects that meet the minimum existing
ridership threshold of 3,000 daily boardings/benefiting riders to be, by
definition, in corridors with transit-supportive land use appropriate to
the proposed level of investment; and therefore, FTA has assigned these
projects a *Medium* rating for transit-supportive land use plans and
policies.

# [Local Financial Commitment Rating: Medium]{.underline} 

The project is rated *Medium* for local financial commitment based on
*The Rapid's* acceptable financial condition and a reasonable plan for
funding the non-Small Starts share of capital costs. The operating cost
of the project exceeds the five percent of the systemwide operating and
maintenance cost threshold which would qualify the project for a
streamlined financial review. Therefore, FTA performed additional
reviews to determine the sufficiency of the project's local financial
commitment. While acceptable for the purposes of advancing into project
development, *The Rapid* must establish a consistent stream of operating
revenues before the project can be considered for a Project Construction
Grant Agreement.

**NOTE**: The financial plan reflected in this table has been developed
by the project sponsor and does not reflect a commitment by DOT or FTA.
The sum of figures may differ from total as listed due to rounding.

MAP