Half a million visitors are expected for this year's Ann Arbor art fairs. Traffic tie ups and parking shortages are bound to follow. 89-one WEMU’s Andrew Cluley opted to use the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s Art Fair bus this year.
In less than ten minutes the art fair bus took me from free parking at Briarwood Mall to the edge of the Summer Art Fair on State Street. The early morning bus was full with people enjoying the cooler than normal weather.
Cindy Stone was one of the passengers. She comes down to the art fair from Lansing every year. She says, “It’s the only way to do it, the only way to do it. Parking is insane downtown, so this is good. You park, get your ticket, you do the round trip. Public Transportation is great.”
Once downtown the art fair trolley circles the four fairs in case your feet get too tired to walk back to that piece of art you’ve been thinking about for the last several hours. Of course before leaving the bus, the driver offers important advice, “alright this is South University and Madison. Your last bus leaves here at 10 o’clock. If you happen to make your way over to Main and William there are buses over there that will take you back to Briarwood, and Briarwood is where you want to be. Alright have a good day now.”
Round trip is 3 dollars and the buses run from 9 until 10 during the week and 9 to 7 on Saturday.
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— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
