MARP Member Meeting
Online via Zoom
Thursday, 10 September 2020
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm ET

Please plan to join us on Thursday, September 10, at 6:30 pm ET for MARP’s second “virtual” meeting. We will hear from Clark Harder who is the Executive Director of the Michigan Public Transit Association to learn how transit in our state is coping with the challenges of the pandermic and what the plans are for moving forward.

Zoom Meeting log in information
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82257390948?pwd=eXJjSytMZ2VJdTFvVU1SZ293QlF5dz09
Meeting ID: 822 5739 0948
Passcode: 507145

Also on the program is Megan Owens who has led Transpotation Riders United (TRU) for more than a decade in working at the grassroots level to improve transit service in the Detroit metropolitan area. Despite the set-backs in getting the Regional Transportation Authority fully off the ground, Detroit has made significant progress over the last few years in improving bus services and introducing new mobility options for people.

We will also have updates on Amtrak services in Michigan and elsewhere.as well as the restart of intercity bus services.

This will be a good opportunity for those of you who have not participated in a Zoom meeting to get familiar with the platform in advance of MARP’s 47^th Annual Meeting which will take place on October 17. That will be a meeting you don’t want to miss. We are fortunate to have as our keynote speaker for that meeting, Mr. Gene Skoropowski widely recognized for making the Capitol Corridor service from San Jose to Sacramento a model of success and then leading the development of the Brightline service in Florida.

One last thing before we go: please CLICK HERE to go to Rail Passengers Association Action Page and add your voice to the chorus calling on Congress to save daily service on Amtrak’s long-distance routes. Weakening the National Netowrk will inevitably affect our Michigan trains and the Midwest regional system.

See you online on Thursday!

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS

Due to the uncertainties of the COVID-19 outbreak, MARP is suspending face-to-face meetings for the next few months. We hope to be able to re-schedule the 47^th Annual Meeting for mid-October in Jackson. In addition, we are studying the possibility of holding “virtual” meetings online in order to stay in touch during these challenging times.

In the meantime, we hope you are staying well and in a safe place. There will be huge challenges ahead and we will need all of you more than ever to insure that our train services continue and even expand.

— Your Executive Committee

MARP Member Meeting
February 22, 2020
10 a.m – 12 p.m. (Noon)
John D. Dingell Transit Center
21201 Michigan Ave, Dearborn MI

MAP & Directions

 Come hear about “The Windsor Connector”, a proposal to facilitate travel by train to Toronto by providing a bus service connecting passengers from Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit to the VIA Rail station in Windsor.  Yuri O. Popov will present the work of a committee composed of Larry Krieg, Chuck Merckel, Doug Wilson, Hugh Gurney, Jean Merckel, and Clark Chartnetsky. The committee has come up with a detailed proposal and has received favorable responses from officials with whom they have spoken. Find out what you can do to help bring this project to fruition.

We will also review a “watch list” of projects in which MARP has an interest and discuss priorities for action in the near term. Topping the list in executive committee discussions in December were:

• Windsor Connector
• West Michigan Express (commuter service Grand Rapids to Holland)
• Mini-high platforms at Dearborn, Kalamazoo, East Lansing, & Detroit stations
• CSX/Amtrak connection at New Buffalo
• Additional passing tracks on the Wolverine Line.

A number of desired projects have longer time horizons and the need for considerable capital investment: Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter rail, additional frequencies on the three Michigan routes, the WALLY commuter project, the Coast-to-Coast project (Detroit-Ann Arbor-Lansing-Grand Rapids/Holland, the A2TC project (Ann Arbor-Traverse City), restoration of Chicago-Detroit-Toronto service. Perhaps you have your own ideas. Let’s talk about them.

Questions? Send email to marprail@yahoo.com.

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS