Rapid Central Station
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Location | 250 Grandville Ave SW, Grand Rapids Michigan, United States |
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Coordinates | 42°57′29″N 85°40′21″W / 42.95806°N 85.67250°WCoordinates: 42°57′29″N 85°40′21″W / 42.95806°N 85.67250°W | |||||||||||||||
Owned by | Interurban Transit Partnership | |||||||||||||||
Bus stands | 16 city bus, 4 coach, 1 BRT | |||||||||||||||
Bus operators | The Rapid, Greyhound Lines, Indian Trails | |||||||||||||||
Connections | Vernon J. Ehlers Station (Amtrak) | |||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Structure type | Ground level | |||||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened | 2004 | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Rapid Central Station (also known as the Transit Center) is an intermodal transit station in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is operated by the Interurban Transit Partnership and serves as Grand Rapids' main city bus station as well as a station on the Silver Line bus rapid transit. It is located on Grandville Avenue between Cherry Street and Wealthy Street, and is the BRT's northern terminus. It is just yards north of the new Amtrak station on Century Avenue.
The station was built in 2004 at the cost of $22 million to serve as both a new bus station and a terminus for intercity coach routes such as Greyhound and Indian Trails. Greyhound moved its operations from 190 Wealthy Street SW on the corner of Grandville Avenue to be part of the intermodal station. It was the first transportation center in the US to receive LEED certification.
The year 2014 saw two major additions to the station. The Silver Line was completed in August adding a platform to the space between the building's eastern entrance and the coach bays. Just two months later, the city's Amtrak station opened at its new location 100 yards south of the bus station.
As Grand Rapids' major bus transfer point, the station features sixteen bays for city buses. Most bus transfers are made on the central platform, while access to the BRT and the Greyhound/Indian Trails coaches is from the station building to the west.
An information desk and ticket counter for the Rapid is located inside the station building, along with similar facilities for Greyhound services. There is also a small snack shop, cafe and vending machines. Outside of information desk hours, ticket machines inside the building or on the central platform dispense any Rapid tickets that cannot be purchased on the buses, such as monthly passes or BRT fares.