By Kate Stockrahm
The Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) is seeking public feedback as part of an ongoing fixed route study.
The study, originally announced in June 2022, aims to understand how the MTA’s 14 primary routes serve the Flint community after recent years of population loss and decreased ridership following COVID-era restrictions.
“After COVID our ridership numbers haven’t really responded like the rest of the [transportation] agencies in the nation,” Paul Mattern explained in an October 2023 meeting of Flint Neighborhoods United.
Mattern estimated that the MTA’s fixed route ridership stands at roughly 55 to 60 percent of its pre-COVID numbers.
“So we’re trying to understand ‘Where did those riders go?’” Mattern explained. “And, throughout the community, do these routes serve residents? Do they go where they [residents] want us to go? Do they go there when they want us to go?”
To support the study, the MTA has partnered with multiple consulting agencies, including SRF Consulting, a Minneapolis-based group with expertise in public and private infrastructure systems.
The firm has been gathering data to understand the MTA’s existing conditions, such as demographic and employment information, as well as ridership trends.
“So part of what we’re going to be doing as part of this study is just to understand what those growth and change patterns have been within Flint,” said Joe Kapper of SRF. “And then how we can reimagine the MTA system to meet the current needs and best serve the community.”
That reimagination will also come from public input, Mattern said, which is why the MTA has set up a host of public meetings across the community in the coming weeks.
That schedule is as follows:
- Jan. 30 | 10 a.m. | Boys and Girls Club, 3701 N. Averill Ave.
- Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. | Hasselbring Community Center, 1002 W. Home Ave.
- Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. | Latinx Community Center, 2101 Lewis St.
- Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. | Queens’ Provisions, 421 Garland St.
- Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. | Urban Renaissance Center, 2505 N. Chevrolet Ave.
- Feb. 3 at 9:30 a.m. | Gloria Coles Flint Public Library, 1026 E. Kearsley St.
For those who cannot attend a meeting in-person but wish to provide their input, the MTA created an online survey for route study feedback. Survey participants will be entered for the chance to win a $50 Visa gift card.
Kate Stockrahm, EVM‘s new editor, can be reached at eastvillagemagazineflint@gmail.com.
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