rapidgrowthmedia.com wrote
Transit agency launches website touting streetcar potential
December 20, 2007
By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The results are many months off, but the streetcar feasibility study launched by The Rapid is well underway. To help residents understand the far-reaching benefits that could accrue to Grand Rapids given a serious investment in the modern public transportation infrastructure, the regional transit agency recently launched an information page on its web site this week.
The study will determine a number of factors, including the location and length of the initial route of the streetcar system, ridership potential, construction cost, funding, how fast it could be built, and the kind of economic development it might generate.
“In the past, Grand Rapids had a well developed streetcar the system that built up Eastown and Cheshire and East Grand Rapids around Ramona Park,” says Peter Varga, CEO of The Rapid, “and that is exactly what it can do to re-stimulate the neighborhood business and residential aspects now.”
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