Rapid Central Station
Rapid Central Station (also known as the Transit Center) is an intermodal transit station in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is operated by the Interurban Transit Partnership and serves as Grand Rapids' main city bus station as well as a station on the Silver Line bus rapid transit. It is located on Grandville Avenue between Cherry Street and Wealthy Street, and is the BRT's northern terminus. It is just yards north of the city's intercity rail station, the Vernon J. Ehlers Station, on Century Avenue.
Rapid Central Station | ||||||||||||||||
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| Location | 250 Grandville Ave SW, Grand Rapids Michigan, United States | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°57′29″N 85°40′21″W | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Interurban Transit Partnership | |||||||||||||||
| Bus stands | 16 city bus, 4 coach, 1 BRT | |||||||||||||||
| Bus operators | The Rapid, Greyhound Lines, Indian Trails | |||||||||||||||
| Connections | Vernon J. Ehlers Station (Amtrak) | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Ground level | |||||||||||||||
| Disabled access | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 2004 | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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History
The station was built in 2004 at the cost of $22 million to serve as both a new bus station and a terminus for intercity coach routes such as Greyhound and Indian Trails. Greyhound moved its operations from 190 Wealthy Street SW on the corner of Grandville Avenue to be part of the intermodal station.[1] It was the first transportation center in the US to receive LEED certification.[2]
The year 2014 saw two major additions to the station. The Silver Line was completed in August[3] adding a platform to the space between the building's eastern entrance and the coach bays. Just two months later, the city's Amtrak station opened at its new location 100 yards south of the bus station.[4]
As Grand Rapids' major bus transfer point, the station features sixteen bays for city buses. Most bus transfers are made on the central platform, while access to the BRT and the Greyhound/Indian Trails coaches is from the station building to the west.
An information desk and ticket counter for the Rapid is located inside the station building, along with similar facilities for Greyhound services. There is also a small snack shop, cafe and vending machines. Outside of information desk hours, ticket machines inside the building or on the central platform dispense any Rapid tickets that cannot be purchased on the buses, such as monthly passes or BRT fares.
Local service
Service operates based on a mass arrival and departure system known locally as the "line-up". The regular routes 1-16 and 18 all operate around the framework of quarter-hourly arrivals and departures. On weekdays, major routes depart at :15 and :45, while others depart at :00 and :30 during the day before reverting to :15 or :45 timings in the evenings. Incoming buses are scheduled to arrive around 7–10 minutes prior to their scheduled departure.
The final "line-up", or departure, of the day is delayed until all participating buses have arrived and any transferring passengers have reached their desired vehicle.
| Frequency | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Route | Destination | M-F | Sat | Sun | Notes |
| SL | Silver Line | 60th Street Park N' Ride | 10-30 | 30 | 60 | Local service (Wealthy-54th) provided by Route 1. |
| 1 | Division | 54th Street Meijer | 30 | 30 | 30 | |
| 2 | Kalamazoo | Kentwood City Hall | 15-30 | 30-60 | 30 | 15-minute service only to 28th Street Meijer Interlined with Route 9 on Saturdays |
| 3 | Madison | Hope Network | 30-60 | 60 | none | |
| 4 | Eastern | Gaines Twp Meijer | 15-30 | 30-60 | 60 | 15-minute service only to 28th Street Interlined with Route 6 on Saturdays and Route 9 on Sundays |
| 5 | Wealthy/Woodland | Woodland Mall (Kentwood Station) Peak extension to 33rd/Patterson |
15-60 | 60 | none | 15-minute service only to Breton Village Interlined with Route 15 on Saturdays |
| 6 | Eastown/Woodland | Woodland Mall (Kentwood Station) | 15-30 | 30-60 | 60 | Interlined with Route 4 on Saturdays |
| 7 | West Leonard | Meijer (Standale) | 15-60 | 60 | 60 | Interlined with Route 15 on weekdays |
| 8 | Grandville/Rivertown Crossings | Rivertown Mall/Meijer | 15-60 | 60 | 60 | 15-minute service only to Goodwill |
| 9 | Alpine | Alpine Walmart | 15-30 | 30-60 | 60 | 15-minute service only to Greenridge Mall |
| 10 | Clyde Park | 54th St. Meijer | 30-60 | 60 | 60 | Interlined with Route 16 on Sundays |
| 11 | Plainfield | Plainfield/Elmdale | 15-30 | 60 | 60 | |
| 12 | West Fulton | Standale Meijer | 30-60 | 60 | none | Interlined with Route 13 during Weekday mid-day |
| 13 | Michigan/North Fuller | Michigan Veterans Facility | 30-60 | 60 | none | Interlined with Route 12 |
| 14 | East Fulton | Leonard/Ball | 30-60 | 60 | none | |
| 15 | East Leonard | Knapp's Corner | 15-60 | 60 | 60 | Interlined with Route 7 on weekdays and Route 5 on Saturdays |
| 16 | Wyoming/MetroHealth | MetroHealth | 30-60 | 60 | 60 | Interlined with Route 8 on Saturdays and Route 10 on Sundays |
| 18 | Westside | Lake Michigan at Covell | 30-60 | 60 | none | |
| 100 | Ferris State Express | Ferris State University | 4 trips | none | none | No schedule when no college classes |
Inter-city service
Amtrak schedules:[6]
Indian Trails schedules:[7]
Greyhound schedules:
References
- "Greyhound Relocates Facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Downtown Intermodal Transportation Center". www.greyhound.com. Greyhound. September 14, 2004. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- "Past, Present and Future Converge to Ride the Rapids at Transit Facility". www.dcd.com. Design Cost Data. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- "Grand Rapids launches $40 million rapid bus system". www.washingtontimes.com. Washington Times. August 25, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- "Vern Ehlers 'a true statesman,' says Sen. Carl Levin at new Amtrak station's opening". www.mlive.com. MLive. October 27, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- "System Map". Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/8/305/Michigan-Service-Schedule-102714.pdf
- webstore.indiantrails.com https://web.archive.org/web/20141103073150/https://webstore.indiantrails.com/schedules.asp. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Missing or empty
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