Harbor Transit staff presented an update to the Grand Haven City Council on Nov. 4 that included funding and site developments for a new operations center and a summary of ridership, service-area demographics and performance metrics.

Dana Apple, Harbor Transit finance and assistant director, and Scott Borg, Harbor Transit director, told council the agency was awarded a federal Bus Facilities grant of $16,252,400 to fund construction of a new operations center and two electric buses. Apple and Borg said the total construction funding stack is roughly $21,000,920 (approximately $17,000,000 federal plus about $4,000,000 state) and that vehicle funding for the two electric buses totals about $315,500 (federal $252,400; state $63,100).

The authority previously purchased two adjacent parcels (about 30 acres) in Grand Haven Township near 172nd and Hayes, next to a Walmart, for the new facility. Borg said the planned operations building will be roughly 50,000 square feet, designed to house current staff and allow fleet maintenance with lifts, provision for propane fueling and wiring for additional future electric vehicles. He said the facility is being sized and sited to support 40-foot urban buses, future fleet expansion and a 40-year planning horizon.

Apple summarized ridership and service-area data. Harbor Transit’s service area covers about 55 square miles and includes the cities of Grand Haven and Ferrysburg, Grand Haven and Spring Lake townships and the Village of Spring Lake. The app Lakeshore Go (provided by VIA) launched in December and now lets riders schedule trips, buy fares and track vehicles. Apple reported that in 2023 Harbor Transit carried just under 200,000 passengers and that residents of Grand Haven accounted for about 43% of rides that year. In April–October 2024 origin/destination data showed many trips concentrated between Grand Haven city and Trinity Health in Norton Shores (a regional connection point to the Muskegon Area Transit System).

On-time performance and operations metrics presented by Harbor Transit showed high punctuality within the Grand Haven boundary (about 94% on-time drop-offs) and average ride durations under 10 minutes inside the city. Apple also compared Harbor Transit’s cost and productivity measures to national demand-response averages and reported Harbor Transit’s cost per passenger and cost per vehicle-hour were below national demand-response benchmarks.

Council members praised Harbor Transit’s outreach and urged continued work on regional connections and expanded hours to better serve commuters and second-shift workers. Borg said staff are working with regional partners, including Grand Valley State University, Muskegon Area Transit and Holland’s Max system, to explore shuttle and connector services.

No formal action was taken; Harbour Transit staff requested continued council support as planning and NEPA processes move forward for the new facility.