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July 1997
State Roundups
Upper Peninsula
You can get there from here—
thanks to new U.P. bus service
Residents of six Upper Peninsula (U.P.) counties will soon have
direct bus service to cities in neighboring counties starting in
August.
The intercounty bus service, funded by a state Department of Transportation
grant for small Michigan communities, includes cities in Delta,
Alger, Marquette, Schoolcraft, Menominee and Dickinson counties.
The grant opens up bus travel across county lines that is normally
prohibited by county charter.
"County lines do not influence an individual's travel pattern,"
says David Gillis, executive director of the Central Upper Peninsula
Planning and Development Regional Commission in Escanaba and a member
of the task force coordinating the transit plan. Gillis cites the
town of Powers in northern Menominee County whose nearest county
urban center is 45 miles away, while Escanaba, in Delta County,
is about half that distance.
The service will focus on those cities with institutions that
already draw traffic across county lines, for example, a managed
care facility in Powers, a Veteran's Administration hospital in
Iron Mountain, Bay du Noc Community College in Escanaba and a large
medical center and Northern Michigan University in Marquette. Gillis
says that in addition to users of the facilities, it is expected
that some employees living in other counties may choose to ride
the bus. The counties involved will for the most part use existing
staff and equipment, and the fares will be similar to those currently
in place in each county.
Given the usually snowy U.P. winters, the bus service may be a
welcome alternative to driving. "It's a plus if you can have someone
else do the driving," says Ray Leach, executive director of the
Delta Area Transit Authority. Intercounty bus service may also open
more regional employment opportunities for people who live in outlying
areas because transportation would be reliable on snowy days and
cut down on winter absenteeism, which is a big concern to employers,
Leach says.
While there are no plans to expand beyond the original hubs, Leach
won't rule that out, citing the potential for a weekend route between
Ironwood and Marquette that would serve Northern Michigan University
students traveling home on weekends.
The intercounty routes and schedule are expected to complement
a private regional bus service that will also begin operations in
August and will take people to and from Green Bay, Wis., and other
transit hubs outside the U.P.
—Kathy Cobb
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Annual Report
