GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Rapid is seeking community input as it imagines what public transportation should look like in the Grand Rapids area.

The Rapid is working to create a Transit Master Plan, which Director of Planning Nick Monoyios described as “our community’s vision of what public transportation looks like for the next 20 years.”

The first step is to hear from the public.

“It’s critically important that we get voices from everyone in our community, not in just the areas that we serve now but the region as a whole,” Monoyios said.

On Thursday, The Rapid held three open houses at its central station, located at 250 Cesar E. Chavez Ave SW, to get public input.

Community members can also take an online survey, available at www.transitthriving.org. The survey closes Dec. 8.

Monoyios told News 8 over 650 people have taken the survey so far, and their ideas range from quick fixes to long-term “big ideas,” like light rail transit.

After The Rapid hears from the public, it will lay out the ideas alongside data.

“We start to distill that and lay that out into a series of recommendations that will be coming back to the public,” Monoyios said.

The Transit Master Plan will be done by summer 2024, he said.

According to Monoyios, transportation is the second-highest household cost, making public transit all the more important. And as Grand Rapids continues to expand outward, the cost of transportation, too, will increase.

“Providing effective and affordable access to get anywhere we need to get to — that is our mission,” Monoyios said. “It’s our north star.”

If you’d like to share your ideas with The Rapid, you can take the online survey.