LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)– The Michigan Division of Transportation awarded the Capital Space Transportation Authority (CATA), a $1.7 million Mobility Problem grant.
The grant is part of the Michigan Division of Transportation’s Equitable Mobility Problem Fixing Mobility Gaps program.
CATA officers say the funds can be used to offer micro-transit companies for third-shift staff in Lansing, Delta Township, and an MSU-to-airport zone. The service is named CATA Rydz and an app can be launched Nov. 12, 2024.
“The necessity of this service emerges from the geographic dispersion of manufacturing and warehousing facilities,” stated CATA CEO Bradley T. Funkhouser in a information launch.
“Manufacturing jobs have been the backbone of the Greater Lansing regional economy, but these facilities have increasingly moved to rural areas outside of the urban core on parcels of undeveloped land, which do not have sufficient access to CATA’s existing fixed-route system. As a result, minority and low-income communities have long been excluded from opportunity and economic mobility within the region.”
“In a single day microtransit within the Larger Lansing area will be certain that third-shift, transit-dependent staff within the manufacturing and warehouse sectors have transportation to get residence from work, bettering equitable entry to job alternatives in our area. Certainly, almost 40% of residents dwelling within the Larger Lansing area reside in single-car or no-car households, which inhibits their skill to commute to and from work,” stated Lansing Mayor Andy Schor.
“Alternatives for these with out entry to a car — primarily marginalized populations — to use for good-paying jobs, receive gainful employment and obtain upward mobility are far much less prevalent. Microtransit will carry prosperity to underserved communities and assist CATA’s mission to reinforce transportation choices for an often-overlooked demographic,” stated Schor.
