ITP Watch » Rapid Silver Line

Rapid Silver Line Tax Increase Retry is Full Speed Ahead

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:18:54 +0000

The ITP’s board meeting in December of 2009 had a discussion about the Rapid Silver Line. It’s clear that they are pressing full speed ahead with coming back to voters to raise taxes, again, for this failed and inefficient project. You can read the meeting’s minutes here.

Mr. Jaiyeoba gave an update on the Silver Line bus rapid transit project and the environmental assessment process. A Power Point presentation was given describing the project, where we are today, potential impacts being considered in the EA, results of the recent traffic analysis and the next steps in the project.

We are working to get a copy of the Power Point presentation referenced in the minutes for more detail. Our guess is that they will try again either this May or in May of 2011.

Rapid Silver Line Vote No Flyers – Download and Print

admin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:45:32 +0000

We now have available “Vote No” flyers available for everyone to download and print. There are four per page, making it easy to leave these reminders with friends and neighbors. The flyer simply states: “Vote NO on the $70 million bus tax increase on Tuesday, May 5th. For more information, visit www.itpwatch.org.”

>> Download the flyer here in PDF format <<

If you have ideas for more ways of getting the word out, please contact us at info@itpwatch.org

The Rapid’s New Silver Line – Another Waste of Taxpayer Money

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:06:59 +0000

We urge the voters of Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming, and Grandville to vote NO on the Tuesday, May 5th ballot. The ITP is asking for another tax increase to fund the so-called “Silver Line” bus route. Why should you vote NO?

The Silver Line will actually increase congestion on Division Avenue because two (of the four) lanes of traffic will be cut off to normal traffic during peak hours, so that the new BRT buses will have priority over all other traffic. That means that during rush hours, traffic will only be allowed one lane each way on Division Avenue.
Rapid buses already travel this “new” route. The new Silver Line will only duplicate efforts and accomplish nothing new.
This new bus route is being called a Bus Rapid Transit line (BRT). However, the length of the route is 9.87 miles and the travel time for that route is 36 minutes. That works out to a little over an average of 16 miles per hour. How do they call this rapid?
Increasing taxes by $70 million during the worst recession since the Great Depression will only serve to kill more jobs in the Grand Rapids area.
Very, very, very few of the residents of the ITP area will see any benefit whatsoever. Residents of Walker, Grandville, and East Grand Rapids will see no benefit at all.
The dedicated lanes for these buses will eliminate crucial parking for the small businesses along Division.