Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority

The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA), which brands itself as "TheRide", is the public transit system serving the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area in Southeast Michigan. In fiscal year 2021 (October 2020 – October 2021), the system had a ridership of 1,725,797 people. Non-managerial and non-administrative workers at the TheRide are union members, organized in Local 171 of the Transport Workers Union of America.

Overview

The authority mainly operates fixed-route bus service within its service area. It also operates the ARide paratransit system and ArtFairRide and FootballRide event shuttles. It oversees the iShareARide and VanRide carpooling services. TheRide operates transit centers in downtown Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, as well as a number of park and ride facilities in the Ann Arbor area. The AAATA is also the designated authority for the planned Ann Arbor-Howell commuter rail line.

The AAATA was the first transit authority in the United States to operate low-floor buses when, in early 1993, they took delivery of ten New Flyer D40LF buses. In terms of operation, only two Canadian authorities and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operated such buses prior to the AAATA. The AAATA has 55 hybrid electric buses in its fleet of 92 and is the first public transit operator in the Midwest to state its intention to convert to all hybrid electric buses.

In November 2012, the AATA broke ground on the new Blake Transit Center, at a cost of $8.1 million. The new 2-story, 12,019-square-foot downtown transit hub replaced a one-story structure built at the site at 328 South Fifth Avenue in the 1980s. The new Blake Transit Center was officially opened for use on July 7, 2014.

In August 2013, the AAATA Board voted to change the agency's name from the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) to the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA). The name change reflects the addition of neighboring Ypsilanti to the agency board and the growing focus on regional services within Washtenaw County's urban core. In December 2013, the Ann Arbor City Council approved adding Ypsilanti Township as a charter member of the AAATA.

Fares

AAATA uses a fixed-fare system. Full fare on fixed-route buses is $1.50, payable by cash or tokens. University of Michigan students, faculty, and staff with a valid yellow Mcard ride for free. Reduced cash fares and discounted passes and tokens are also available, with children under 6, registered seniors 65 years of age and over, and TheRide employees riding for free. 1-day and 30-day unlimited-ride passes are available for $3.00 and $45 respectively.

Transfers are free, and are valid for unlimited connections to fixed-route buses for 90 minutes, including return trips on the same route. They are not valid for event shuttles, or AirRide.

FootballRide and ArtFairRide shuttles have the same $1.50 fare as normal service. Passes and transfers are not accepted, and reduced fares are not available.

The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority operates the 98 AirRide line in cooperation with the Michigan Flyer coach service, which runs an express route between downtown Ann Arbor and the McNamara and North terminals of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Wayne County. Fares are $12.00 for standard adults with reservation, $15.00 per walk-on, and $6.00 for the elderly or disabled. Children under 18 are allowed on free with a paying adult, during round trips.

Routes

Routes that travel between TheRide's two main hubs, the Blake Transit Center (BTC), in Ann Arbor and the Ypsilanti Transit Center (YTC) in Ypsilanti (called "Inter-urbans") are numbered in the single-digits, i.e., routes Three, Four, Five and Six. Routes that serve Ann Arbor Neighborhoods and start and finish at the BTC (called Local services, or "loops") are Numbered Twenty-Two through Thirty-Four. Similar routes in Ypsilanti that begin and end at the YTC are numbered Forty-Two through Forty-Seven. Routes that connect neighborhoods but do not serve either transit center are numbered Sixty-Two through Sixty-Eight.

*3 Huron River
*4 Washtenaw
*5A/B Packard
*6 Ellsworth
*22 Pontiac – Dhu Varren
*23 Plymouth
*24 Eisenhower – Golfside
*25 Ann Arbor-Saline Road
*26 Scio Church
*27 West Stadium – Oak Valley
*28 Pauline
*29 Liberty
*30 Jackson – Dexter
*31 Dexter
*32 Miller – Maple
*33 Newport
*34 Maple – Dexter
*42 Forest – MacArthur
*43 East Michigan Avenue
*44 Ecorse – Tyler
*45 Grove
*46 Huron – Paint Creek
*47 Harriet – West Michigan
*62 U-M State
*63 U-M Pontiac
*64 Geddes – East Stadium
*65 U-M Downtown – Green
*66 Carpenter – Huron Parkway
*68 Harris – Ford
*98 AirRide (Detroit Metro Airport Shuttle)

Route and schedule booklets, branded as the "Ride Guide," which are normally available for free onboard buses and at transit centers have been discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. The AAATA formerly ran a free ''Link Bus'' connecting central campus and downtown during the U-M school year until 20 August 2009.

References

External links

AAATA websiteWebsite for AirRide service to the Detroit airport

{{Michigan public transit

Bus transportation in Michigan
Intermodal transportation authorities in Michigan
University and college bus systems
Zero-fare transport services
Transportation in Ann Arbor, Michigan