TheRide’s Plan My Trip Tool Lets Riders See How Service Improvements Will Improve Their Trips

On Sunday, May 1, TheRide will be introducing the biggest expansion of bus service in the greater Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area since 1979, as part of its Five-Year Transportation Improvement Program. The May, 2016 phase of fixed-route and paratransit improvements will be the third since voters approved the Plan in May, 2014. It will create more ways for citizens to connect with jobs, school, appointments, shopping, and family and friends in the urban core of Washtenaw County.

In order to provide its customers with an interactive way to learn about the improved service, TheRide has worked with Google to add functionality to its Google Transit tool, which allows riders to see what their trips will look like after May 1. By visiting TheRide.org, clicking 'Plan My Trip,' and selecting a date that occurs after May 1, riders can determine which routes they will take after the improvements begin.

In addition to the Plan My Trip tool, TheRide has hosted community workshops, presented at local meetings, and talked with riders on buses and at bus stops and transit centers in the greater Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas to provide education about the improvements.

The improvements beginning May 1 include more routes to serve more places, more direct routes in Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti, more frequent service, new route names and numbers, new service in Scio Township, new service in Pittsfield Township, and expanded A-Ride service for seniors and riders with disabilities.

Summary of May, 2016 Service Improvements

City of Ann Arbor

• Service on the west side of Ann Arbor will have more direct service starting May, 2016.
• The new service will replace loop routes with “out & back” routes on major streets with a crosstown connector.
• Routes 9, 12, 15 and 18 will be replaced with six new routes to provide more direct service.

Ypsilanti Area (City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, Superior Township)

• TheRide will replace three local Ypsilanti routes, (Routes 10, 11 and 20) with six new routes to provide more direct service.
• Frequency of bus service will increase from every hour to every 30 minutes on weekdays.
• New Route 68 (Harris–Ford) will provide Ypsilanti residents with an east side connector that will reduce the need for transfers at the Ypsilanti Transit Center.
• Route 3 (Huron River) will begin serving LeForge, River St. and Clark.

Pittsfield Township

• Beginning May 1, another new route, Route 27 (W. Stadium–Oak Valley), will be added to serve Pioneer High School, the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, the Pittsfield Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, Oak Valley Shopping Center, Target, and the Ann Arbor–Saline Rd. Meijer. 
• The May 1 improvements follow the introduction of Route 67 (Michigan Ave.) in August, 2015, which serves the Carpenter Rd. Meijer, Pittsfield Township Hall, and the Saline Walmart on Michigan Ave.

Scio Township

• Scio Township’s new transit service will be ramped up during two phases over a few years.
• May 1 begins Route 30 service on Jackson Rd. to the Meijer west of Zeeb Rd., Route 26: Scio Church, and Route 29: Liberty.