Meanwhile, Owens said, the larger issue of a sub-par regional transit system remains unsolved.

“Some people are very upset when you have people who have to take two and three buses to get to where they need to go. This (QLine) feels to them like a rich man’s toy.”

QLine advocates, however, ask for patience and predict better days ahead.

“New systems take time to mature, (for) people to understand their options and ridership to grow,” Mario Morrow, spokesman for the Regional Transit Authority, told Bridge Magazine earlier this year.

“As Detroit grows, so will the numbers for the QLine. We will continue to support the QLine, and do whatever we need to do in our power to make it a success.”

Lost funding and faith in Lansing

In Lansing, plans for a $133 million BRT from the state Capitol to Meridian Mall 8.5 miles to the east faced opposition from groups that included business owners, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, Michigan State University and the Meridian Township Board. After nine years on the drawing board, the transit board shelved it after $99 million in anticipated federal funds fell through.

As in Grand Rapids, backers promised the Lansing project would spur development, much like Cleveland’s HealthLine.

At the time of the vote last year to scrap it, board member Donna Rose said “Donald Trump did us a favor” by cutting federal funds for the project.

“There are better things ahead for transportation than BRTs,” Rose said.

Bradley Funkhouser, CEO of the Lansing-area transit system, declined to say if officials would seek to reinstate the project if federal funds become available.

“There has been no discussion about reinstating a BRT as originally presented,” he said in an email. He declined comment on the potential merits of the project.

One opponent asserted that funds would be better spent on improving overall service within the system. (See related story on Ann Arbor transit.)

Fred Wurtzel, vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, said members of the Lansing area blind community were also concerned about access to the buses on the proposed center lane to be used for service.

“You could take those funds and put it into improved services and get a lot more out of it. We need good transit, but not this project,” Wurtzel said.

Zimmerman, of Smart Growth America, said dense population along a BRT corridor can be a key predictor of success. Ideally, it should be within a quarter mile of where lots of people live and work.

But that doesn’t describe much of the Silver Line route in Grand Rapids, particularly the southern end, where South Division is dominated by commercial lots and surrounded by low-density single-family housing. There are no large housing complexes near this end of the line.

Unlike Cleveland’s HealthLine – which connects the central business district to major hospitals and a cluster of cultural institutions – the Silver Line has no such magnet on its southern end.

And comparatively speaking, Grand Rapids isn’t all that congested when it comes to automobile commutes. According to a 2017 study, Grand Rapids drivers spent an average of 13 hours in congested traffic in 2016 – compared to 42 hours on average in 240 U.S. cities. On most weekdays, traffic into the city moves relatively smoothly on principal commuting routes like U.S. 131 and Int. 196.

That might help explain why just 2 percent of workers take public transportation to jobs in downtown Grand Rapids.

When the Silver Line opened in 2014, the transit authority built a 200-space park-and-ride lot at its southern terminus with expectations it would be embraced by commuters.

There’s plenty of room. Roughly three dozen cars sat in the lot one recent Friday morning at rush hour.

That included a van belonging to Erin Choi, a physical therapist who works at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital downtown. She’s been riding the Silver Line since it opened, driving from her home five miles away.

She cites a host of benefits, including that Spectrum pays for her parking pass, as it does for any employee who rides the transit system.

“It’s just a lot more convenient than driving into work,” she said. “It’s better for the environment. Plus, I can read on the bus. I can’t do that in a car. And it does ease congestion downtown.

“I think people are becoming more aware it is an option,” she said. “I would hope that it would grow.”