Campus and community benefit from successful MRide program

Updated 8:00 PM September 2, 2005

Campus and community benefit from successful MRide program

By Parking and Transportation Services
and Mary Stasiak, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority

The successful collaboration between the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) and the University on AATA's MRide program during the past year has both entities looking forward with optimism to the year ahead.

The MRide program was launched Aug. 1, 2004, under an agreement between AATA that allows all active U-M faculty, staff and students to ride fixed-route buses without paying a fare by showing their yellow or white Mcard.

U-M pays AATA $700,000 per year for the service, with the remainder of the $1.8 million cost funded through federal transit dollars earned as a result of U-M's bus operation.

According to AATA CEO/Executive Director Greg Cook, "The MRide program has been a great success in its first year of operation. AATA's ridership has increased significantly, growing by 370,000 rides during the fall and winter semesters—a 13 percent increase in AATA's ridership."

Figures show that U-M students and employees took more than 1.24 million rides on AATA buses from September 2003-April 2004. A year later, the number of rides taken by U-M students and employees during the same period increased by 13 percent. The biggest increase in ridership was on Route 2 Plymouth, which had a 59 percent spike.

U-M ridership also increased. In fiscal year 2005, more than 5.2 million passengers rode U-M buses, an 11 percent increase from
FY 2004.

"Part of our record results this year can be attributed to the MRide program," says Dave Miller, director of U-M's Parking and Transportation Services. "With AATA bringing more riders to campus, our services transport more people within our Ann Arbor campus areas."

In January 2005, an additional 8,000 annual hours of service were added as a result of the MRide program.

"We were able to add service hours that were specifically designed to enhance service to and from the U-M campus," Cook says. "We determined what service to add after soliciting and evaluating hundreds of suggestions from students and people who work at the University."

Additional service made possible through the MRide agreement has benefited U-M as well as improved service for other members of the community who use AATA.

"The MRide program is saving students on the cost of their transportation and is giving them access to a broader range of housing options, and additional work and entertainment opportunities," says Sue Eklund, dean of students.

With the MRide program, U-M faculty, staff and students also have the option to park free at the Park & Ride lots and ride to campus at no cost.

"One survey has shown that 30 percent of our graduate students and 10 percent of our faculty and staff have changed their commuting habits due to MRide," Miller says.

Cook adds that U-M and the community benefit as increased use helps slow growth in the demand for campus and downtown parking and traffic congestion.

Campus and community benefit from successful MRide program

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