West Michigan Express

Submitted by whitemice on Tue, 03/18/2025 - 07:10

Page Under Development

The West Michigan Express is the concept of an inter-city service operating along the Chicago Drive corridor between downtown Grand Rapids and downtown Holland servicing the intermediary stops of Hudsonville and Zeeland. Born out of the conversations around the defunct Coast-to-Coast rail project (circa ~2015); this segment of the proposed route demonstrated high-ridership potential and low cost. This corridor was, historically, served by transit and that history still echoes in the density and arrangement of the development. This was a rare commuter/express transit service in that the suburbs (Hudsonville, Holland) were, potentially, more interested in the development of the service than the primary city (Grand Rapids).

The initial project was always intended to be bus service with possible development into rail service at a future time.

As a pilot was moving toward operation the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. The concept had also been savagely reduced to a very infrequent service unlikely to attract much ridership. The conservative politics of West Michigan had stepped in with its typical extreme focus on workers (whom them kindly refer to as "commuters") and serving the [speculative] needs of employers rather than all the citizens who might use a service for mobility on this corridor.

A challenge to the service is that there is demand. Aka: congestion at peak times, when it is possibly most advantageous to operate the service. Won't the bus simply be struck in that congestion? Yes. So it is likely that on-time performance will be terrible? Yes.

Current Status

There are still rumblings about a ~3 year pilot; however, there is no funding source. So? Nobody knows. It seems unlikely to materialize in the near future.

The "preferred scenario" as of the last analysis was five daily trips; two in the AM, one at noon, and two in the PM, with a RAPID operated coach class bus. Trip times is either ~45 or ~52 minutes depending on express or all-stop schedule. With a bus lay-over time of 10 - 15 minutes the vehicle would be committed for two hours per trip.

Fares would be anticipated to be ~$4 trip. There could however be a variety of discount programs. In an ideal world employers would contribute to the operation of the service as it is largely designed with their [speculated] needs front-and-center.

Documents

News

Notice the level of interest and support from the more suburban communities (Holland & Hudsonville), and the comparative sound of crickets from Grand Rapids. This is both unusual for such a project, and indicative of the [absence of] priorities of the late 2010s Grand Rapids City Commission. The project was lead by City of Hudsonville; the meetings of the West Michigan Express Task Force occurred at Hudsonville's Terra Square. At the time Hudsonville's new 2030 Plan - "Imagine Hudsonville" - had a "Connected City" goal which prioritized linking Hudsonville with Holland and Grand Rapids via public transportation.