Holland area teens aged 10-17 hoping to get out of the
house and enjoy their summer vacation might find that MAX transit’s Summer Fun Pass is just their ticket to freedom.

The Macatawa Area Express (MAX) Transportation Authority for the second year is offering a Teen Summer Fun Pass that gives teens unlimited rides on the fixed bus routes from June 1-Labor Day for just $30. Two passes can be purchased for $50 – an
even greater savings – to encourage teens to ride the bus with friends or siblings.

Student bus passes normally cost $15 per month or $50 per semester (4 months).

“Soon it’ll be summer and kids will, as usual, complain about being bored. MAX’s Fun Pass is a great way for them to get out of the house inexpensively and without bothering parents or older siblings,” says Matthew Scott, owner of Lemonjello’s Coffee in Holland, one of the 11 local sponsors of the promotion.
Other sponsors, some of which are offering special deals and discounts to teens who show their pass, include: the Holland Aquatic Center; Boys & Girls Club of Holland; Century Bowling Lanes; Herrick District Libraries; Holland 7 Theater (Goodrich Quality Theaters); Home Roller Rink; Howard Miller Library; the Lost City; Peppino’s Pizza; Vitale’s Pizza of Zeeland.

The MAX Fun Pass promotion will also feature a TV spot.

Theater and Drama Club students from West Ottawa
High School will be starring in a new television commercial to promote the Macatawa Area Express (MAX) Transportation Authority’s Teen Summer Fun Pass. The transit system will be filming at various locations around Holland on Saturday, April 24
(Editors: See attached filming schedule).

The students were recruited after the lakeshore transit system hired SVS Productions of Holland, Mich. to produce a new 30-second television commercial for the transit system’s Teen Summer Fun Pass. “If we want to market the Fun Pass to teens,
then we need input from teens to make the spot ‘real’ and to appeal to them,” explains Sherri Betz, MAX marketing and customer service manager.

From freep.com …

Petty partisanship too often characterizes the work of Michigan legislators, so it’s encouraging to note that Republicans and Democrats do come together from time to time to support policies that will move Michigan forward.

Such is the case with a package of bills promoting transit by extending economic development incentives to bus stops, train stations and related improvements. Driving the bipartisan transit bills are two Democrats — Rep. Marie Donigan of Royal Oak and Sen. Gilda Jacobs of Huntington Woods — and two Republicans — Sen. Jason Allen and Rep. Wayne Schmidt, both of Traverse City.

So-called Transit Oriented Development bills would not raise taxes or require any community to invest in bus or rail systems. But the bills would provide new tools for municipalities to use Tax Increment Financing, tax credits, abatements and other incentives provided by existing economic development laws, including Corridor Improvement and Brownfield Redevelopment, for transit stations and other improvements.

Equally important, the bills would require communities to consider transit development options when updating their master plans. Although transit would not have to become part of any local master plan, municipal leaders should at least consider ways transit could benefit their communities if they want to move Michigan into a 21st Century economy.

These bills could change Michigan’s landscape by providing incentives to create dense, walkable communities around transit hubs. Nationally, every dollar spent on transit spurs an estimated $4 to $7 of related private investment. More transit in Michigan would also help the state recover more than the 46 cents it gets back for every transit dollar it sends to Washington.

“Transit needs to become part of economic development in Michigan,” said Andy Schor of the Michigan Municipal League. “More transit means attracting more investment and more talent to Michigan.”

Michigan needs transit systems that will relieve congestion, conserve energy, reduce global warning, reduce the enormous cost of maintaining and expanding highways, and create jobs and economic development. Legislators can help Michigan get there by approving the bipartisan package of Transit Oriented Development bills.