In the
first and
second installments of
Concentrate's series on the future of Ann Arbor public transit, we considered options for engaging those who could ride transit but choose to drive a car.
But what about area residents who stand to make that choice for the first time?
Research suggests that millennials are less inclined to drive–or even get a driver's license in the first place–and more inclined to take advantage of alternative transportation options including public transit. Chris White, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority's (AAATA) manager of service development, backs those assertions up. White says he's noticed a dramatic shift in acceptance of public transit since the beginning of his 35-year career at AAATA.
"What we saw 20 years ago was that parents had never used transit and they were very reluctant to have their high-school-aged children use transit," White says. "When we were working with high school- and college-aged students, for many of them transit wasn't something they were even willing to consider. That's clearly changed significantly. In fact, I think you get credit for using transit among your peers, and questions if you're not willing to consider it as an alternative."
Amer Ghali is among our area's next generation of dedicated transit users. The 17-year-old Superior Township resident participated in the
Partners For Transit campaign last year in support of the AAATA's millage increase, and rides AAATA buses regularly to school and religious services. He says more members of his generation are using public transit, but estimates that still only 30 to 45 percent of his peers are aware and taking advantage of AAATA service.
"A lot more of us are becoming more eco-friendly these days," Ghali says. "We're becoming more aware of the environment and the benefits that public transportation riding can bring us. With that being said, others still prefer the privacy and speed and efficiency of taking their personal automobiles around."
Elisabeth Gerber is a public policy professor at the University of Michigan and one of Washtenaw County's representatives on the board of the
Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan. She notes that her own 19-year-old daughter has chosen not to drive because she expects public transit will be available no matter where she lives, a choice Gerber says would have been unthinkable when she was the same age.
"I don't think you have to do anything to persuade young people that transit is cool," Gerber says. "You just have to make it usable for them."
Convenient, affordable and accessible
Convenience is of paramount importance in a world where public transit isn't exactly the only alternative to traditional car ownership. Usage of ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft has spread like wildfire among young people nationwide. Ann Arbor transit organizer Martha Valadez says young people judge transportation service, including AAATA, on "if it's convenient, if it's affordable and if it's accessible" in a similar fashion.
"[Uber] is so much more convenient because it's door-to-door service," Valadez says. "In order for public transit to really compete with those kinds of services, people need to start thinking innovatively and creatively about that door-to-door concept. All we have is the NightRide here."
Valadez refers to AAATA's
door-to-door service, which area residents may use to call ahead for a late-night ride priced at a flat $5. However, the service is still a long way from functioning as a serious competitor to Uber. Ray Andrews, a 24-year-old carless Ypsilanti resident who participated in the Partners For Transit campaign, relies on NightRide for transportation when she works late at one of her two jobs. She says the service's pricing is convenient, but "because they know they're cheap fare they kind of take their time."
"Some days they'll come right [when requested] and I'll be like, ‘Dang, this is the once in a blue moon that you're ever early,'" Andrews says. "And then some days they'll come an hour later."
Uber and Lyft also have the distinct advantage of being available through popular and conveniently designed mobile apps. Numerous transit advocates interviewed for this story cited technology as a major key in selling youth on NightRide or any AAATA service. AAATA currently has no plans to develop a proprietary app, although it's in the process of installing a new CAD/AVL (computer aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location) system that will make a wealth of bus tracking information publicly available to local app developers.
"We need them to know that we're there," says AAATA board member and Ypsilanti-based transit activist Gillian Ream Gainsley. "I think some of that mobile technology and that web presence is going to be a big part of that, making sure that we're out in front of folks."
More important than fancy technology or even door-to-door service, and the top item on some area young people's transit wish lists, is the simple desire for more service at later hours. Andrews expresses surprise that some buses at U-M, where she went to school, or in Detroit, where she grew up, run later than AAATA's service. Andrews often works as late as 3 a.m. as a sandwich artist at Subway, and says she can't be the only worker who would take advantage of bus service after midnight.
Even when service is available, Andrews says AAATA under-serves Ypsilanti's neighborhoods, or what she describes as "the quote-unquote 'ghetto.'"
"I feel like privileged people don't even get it because they don't live by that neighborhood," Andrews says. "They're like, ‘Oh yeah, Washtenaw? We have two or three buses that run back to back.' But then when it comes to…stuff that goes into different neighborhoods outside of the main business strip, I don't think those buses are being catered to."
A seat at the table
For one unique model of how to actively engage young people in shaping the future of public transit, Ann Arbor might look a bit southeast to its Rust Belt neighbor Philadelphia, where the
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) established a
Youth Advisory Council (YAC) in 2009. YAC is a volunteer board composed entirely of high school- and college-aged individuals who promote SEPTA to the area youth community and also advocate for that community's interests inside SEPTA.
YAC executive chair Jeff Kessler, 20, has led the council in a variety of efforts, ranging from advocating for a discount fare program for college students to coordinating numerous outreach events at area schools.
"[We say,] ‘Welcome to this city. Welcome to your new college experience. Here's how you can get around,'" Kessler says. "That's one way that we've found to be really effective to get people to try out, and thereby continue using, the system."
In his two years with YAC, Kessler says SEPTA has been "very receptive" to the council's input. He says he'd recommend the model to other cities, but that engaging youth in public transit can also take simpler forms, like doing outreach through social media. To Kessler, the specific approach doesn't matter so long as it's getting the next generation literally and figuratively onboard.
"Having some dedicated channel for feedback from the youth community, which is often overlooked, is something that is perhaps a critical component to testing and validating the things that they're trying out," Kessler says.
Patrick Dunn is an Ann Arbor-based freelance writer and a senior writer at Concentrate. He will be reporting on local transportation issues over the next year.
All photos by Doug Coombe .
You like us but have you LIKED us? Our Facebook page is here so show us a little like. OR follow us on Twitter @ConcentrateA2