Public transportation is good for our environment, for our future, and for this community - Rachel Hood

[IMAGE '399' /]From her office inside West Michigan’s only Double Gold LEED-certified structure, you’d expect Rachel Hood to say good things about the positive environmental impact of public transportation, and she doesn’t disappoint, moving from The Rapid’s hybrid buses to the beauty of our regional lakes and woodlands to the ability of mass transit to reduce suburban sprawl.

But Hood also recognizes the value of public transit from the perspective of a rider, in other communities and right here on The Rapid. Six months without a vehicle was not the major inconvenience it could have been since Rapid buses easily connected her with home and office.

“We are very lucky to have a well-run, well-managed public transportation system here in the Grand Rapids area,” she says.

But Hood also sees tremendous economic advantages to a regional commitment to public transportation, cautioning that delaying investment will handicap growth, since construction costs will surge as the economy improves. She also points out that public transportation is a real economic boon to America’s families, who are saving up to $6,000 a year by using public transit rather than automobiles.