Silver Line Frequently Asked Questions

What is BRT?
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) provides fast, frequent, and direct service within
a well-defined corridor. The Silver Line will be like a light rail system on wheels, speeding commuters north and south on Division Avenue from 60th Street to Michigan Avenue, looping through the busiest part of Downtown Grand Rapids, stopping at 19 designated stations. In addition, it will connect with key routes of the current Rapid bus system.

What could I expect when I step onboard a Silver Line bus?
Expect faster travel times, reduced transfers, improved vehicle and system
comforts, along with precise arrival times and more frequent service. Silver
Line buses will feature new suspension technology that reduces sway to
increase riding comfort. Electronic payment systems ease rider flow on
and off the bus. The entire system and riding experience is designed around your comfort, convenience, and safe and timely arrival.

What other U.S. cities have a system like this?
There are BRT systems either in full operation or in test programs in New
York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, and Las Vegas. And more cities are exploring BRT as the demand for more efficient and economical transportation alternatives grows. The economic viability of the systems has already been verified. The impact and value of BRT in revitalizing American cities is something that is making them very popular in stimulating growth and local economies.

How can BRT impact the growth of a business corridor?
First, the buses maintain and even increase people flowing through a
business corridor without increasing vehicle traffic. Second, each BRT station is a potential hub of development and revitalization, as other cities have quickly learned. Third, traditional businesses such as retailers count on smooth efficient traffic flow to attract customers. Again, as other cities have found, a BRT system such as the Silver Line provides a steady, dependable flow of potential customers throughout the corridor, particularly near stations.

Is our BRT a better choice than a light rail system?
BRT achieves at or near the same level of benefit in terms of job creation, economic development potential, and travel time savings as does light rail, but BRT is significantly more cost-effective to build. Rail projects average anywhere from $20-$35 million a mile. This project will cost approximately $3 million a mile. BRT is also much less disruptive during construction, lessening impacts on local business and traffic.

Why choose Division Avenue for the Silver Line?
The Division Avenue corridor was chosen after a very intense analysis
— it represents the best combination of current ridership, economic
development potential, public input, travel time savings, and population and
job growth projections among other factors. Located parallel to US 131 as
it weaves through the metropolitan area, the Division Avenue Silver Line
draws on high volume traffic, with the potential of reducing vehicle counts on the expressway during morning and evening rush hours. And the Division Avenue corridor is ideally placed to tie communities such as Wyoming and South Kentwood to the growth of Downtown Grand Rapids, while making the most of an area that is ripe for reinvestment and economic development.

How is the Silver Line different than the buses now traveling on Division Avenue?
Silver Line buses will operate primarily in dedicated bus-only lanes during peak hours, resulting in higher speeds and much shorter travel times
between stations. The Silver Line uses intelligent transportation system (ITS) applications such as transit signal priority, which allows BRT to travel
through intersections more quickly than general traffic. State-of-the-art
technology reigns, with electronic payment to speed fare collection, realtime arrival travel information, and advanced communication systems for faster and more convenient trips. Silver Line buses are modern, clean, quiet, high efficiency vehicles that use hybrid propulsion drive systems to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Where will the Silver Line pick up and drop off passengers?
The Silver Line will use stations rather than stops, 19 of them as the route
is now planned. Stations are spaced from 1/2 mile to 1 mile apart and will
feature roofs, lighting, and electronic fare collection for quick, easy, level
boarding on the low-floor buses. This, in conjunction with wide entry and exit doors, allows Silver Line buses to enter and exit stations quickly.

How many Silver Line buses will be in service each day?
There will be 8 hybrid electric buses serving 19 stops on the 9.87-mile route, with a service frequency of 10 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes off-peak.

How much of the community can be served by the Silver Line?
Located parallel to US 131, the Silver Line is strategically placed to serve the growing needs of the region, directly linking communities such as Kentwood and Wyoming south to Downtown Grand Rapids and serving Grandville, Walker and East Grand Rapids with traditional bus routes that connect to the new line. The Silver Line puts medical centers in and around downtown, research facilities on Medical Mile, five college campuses, and downtown venues such as DeVos Place, Van Andel Arena, and Rapid Central Station within reach of thousands of area residents — without the requirement of private vehicles.

What value with the Silver Line add to the community at large?
Beyond easing traffic, reducing air pollution, and enhancing the ability to
move about in the metro area, the Silver Line will have a tremendous economic impact on the region. First, it will create both temporary and permanent construction, technical, and professional jobs. Roadway and station construction will add significant employment opportunities, as will the service jobs needed to run the line. Using an estimate of 405 permanent jobs and an average annual wage of $37,000 per job, the total annual wage creation will be almost $15 million. Second, as development kicks in along the corridor, we estimate that return on Silver Line investment could be as high as 400%. According to a University of Michigan study the return on investment of the BRT in Cleveland has been estimated at a 1000%. In cities like Kansas City and York, Ontario, the return on investment was somewhere between 300% and 400%.

What does the Silver Line mean for Michigan?
Because there is so much competition for New Starts money, and there are many projects in the pipeline behind ours, this is our opportunity. If we cannot show community support for this project by voting YES May 5th, the funds will just go to other cities and other projects that can show they want them. We will if not totally lose, at least significantly hinder, our ability to get this type of funding in the future. The Silver Line represents the first New Starts project to be approved in Michigan.