Bay Area Transportation Authority: Growing Transit’s Reach In & Around Scenic Traverse City, Michigan

By Harrell Kerkhoff, Busline Magazine editor

The Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) provides various services in Traverse City, MI, and surrounding area. (Photo courtesy of BATA)

It’s been a busy couple of years at the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA), located in scenic Traverse City, MI. Consider some of the highlights:

• A 2024 opening of BATA’s new 87,000-square-foot operations center and headquarters. A transit-oriented development incorporated with a nearby housing project adjacent to the headquarters is underway;
• The recent hiring of Jeff Meilbeck as BATA’s next Executive Director;
• The continual planning and implementation of service expansions to meet the needs of a growing population within BATA’s service region that includes Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties;
• The use and further development of alternative-fueled vehicles including electric (EVs); and,
• The ability to recruit and retain high quality customer-focused staff.

“We are very fortunate, as a public transportation provider, to serve a popular and growing area full of well-known winter and summer activities,” BATA Director of Communications and Development Eric Lingaur said. “More people are discovering the benefits to living in our part of the state, in northern Michigan. There are all kinds of opportunities to enjoy nature here, but at the same time, our area has a ‘small city’ feel with many amenities and comforts of urban living.”

Indeed, Traverse City now has a population of approximately 15,700 residents, while the four-county Traverse City metropolitan area has an estimated 156,600 residents. Traverse City is also the largest city in the northern portion of Lower Michigan, not to be confused with the state’s Upper Peninsula.

“With our area’s population increase over the past decade comes greater demand for public transportation,” Lingaur said. “It helps that many of our newer residents come from more urban areas and are used to using public transportation. Therefore, they look for such benefits when moving to our part of the state, which we are happy to provide at BATA. Also, there is a growing number of retirees in our service region who are looking for alternatives to driving their personal vehicles. We help meet that demand was well.”

A Geographical Wonder

Just like every state in the union, there are many regions that make up Michigan — each with its own unique set of features and benefits. When it comes to geography, few spots in the state and beyond can boast greater natural wonders than Traverse City and its surrounding area, located in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

The city itself is located at the head of the East and West arms of Grand Traverse Bay, a 32-mile-long body of water connected to nearby Lake Michigan. Grand Traverse Bay is divided into arms by the 18-mile-long Old Mission Peninsula, which is also attached at its base to Traverse City. The entire region is filled with scenic woodlands, lakes and rivers that provide a myriad of outdoor activates such as fishing, hiking, biking, hunting, boating and snowmobiling.

Traverse City is also known as “The Cherry Capital of the World.” The area surrounding Grand Traverse Bay is a hotspot for cherry production. The city hosts the National Cherry Festival each year, attracting approximately 500,000 visitors. Wine production is also prevalent in the region.

With these many natural features brings a large contingent of both summer and winter tourists, as well as a growing population of year-round residents. The area is also ripe for a growing public transportation service, which BATA officials continue to work on providing.

BATA officially started in 1986 with the consolidation of two dial-a-ride transit systems. Since that time, it has grown from being considered a small rural transit provider to now being designated as a small urban transit agency. Today, BATA offers two basic types of public transportation services — 12 fixed routes as well as on-demand microtransit.

“Our fixed routes service Traverse City and local villages in the surrounding area,” Lingaur said. “Meanwhile, BATA’s on-demand microtransit is also offered throughout our service region. Anybody can use this service. Riders don’t have to qualify for paratransit use, although it is geared toward paratransit passengers. This service can be used by calling a scheduling department or using an app.”

BATA operates a fleet of around 80 vehicles, the majority of which are cutaways. Also available are vans and larger buses.

“About 60 percent of our fleet is powered by propane, with the remainder of our vehicles using gas or diesel. Also, BATA is taking part in a pilot project involving the use of six EV vans. We are seeing how they work in the harsh winter environment of northern Michigan. So far they are doing a good job,” Lingaur said. “The hardest part is getting the charging infrastructure in place. We are working on installing fast chargers at both of our facilities. Currently, our EV vans are being used within a close range to those facilities, but we’re looking to expand their usage once we become more familiar with their capabilities.”

BATA’s propane fleet has been in operation for several years. Lingaur explained the benefits of using propane-powered vehicles at the transit agency.

“First of all, there are the environmental benefits. Propane is a cleaner burning fuel, featuring less harmful emissions toward the environment. We have also found there is less wear and tear on engines when using propane,” he said. “One of the other big benefits is the price stability of the fuel. We purchase 375,000 gallons of propane each year and are locked into one price. That helps us from a financial and budgetary standpoint.”

No matter the fuel used, BATA vehicles must be reliable in a service region that covers approximately 900 square miles within various parts of Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties — an area that involves both city travel and a variety of rural landscapes.

“Our service area includes a lot of surrounding water, such as lakes, rivers and streams. It’s beautiful and we love it, but there are not a lot of straight roads up here,” Lingaur said, with a laugh. “Our vehicles are often going around a lake or over a bridge, adding to the time it takes to get from point A to point B.”

And then there is the winter. Located close to the shores of Lake Michigan, Traverse City averages slightly over 100 inches of snow per year — a lot of it coming during lake-effect snow events.

“Winter is beautiful up here, but it does present challenges when it comes to transportation,” Lingaur said. “Fortunately, our local road crews do an amazing job clearing roads after snow events. Also, our BATA drivers are well trained and experienced when it comes to operating vehicles in wintery weather. They understand that ‘on-time performance’ is not a metric they have to adhere to during harsh winter conditions. It’s much more important to keep the passengers safe and vehicles on the road.

“We also spend a lot of time at BATA making sure our bus stops are cleared of snow and ice, which can be a full-time job during harsh winter weather.”

New Operations Center & Headquarters

Shown is BATA Director of Communications and Development Eric Lingaur. (Photo courtesy of BATA)

Six years in the making, BATA’s new 87,000-square-foot operations center and headquarters opened in August 2024, with a ribbon cutting ceremony taking place the following October. The facility, located on the southern edge of Traverse City, includes administrative offices, scheduling and dispatching operations, training facilities, service bays, and a climate-controlled bus garage with the potential to house up to 100 vehicles. It’s designed to accommodate the region’s growing public transit needs and is phase one of a two-phase project.

The second phase, now in progress, will focus on housing development near the new facility. Working in collaboration with the Traverse City Housing Commission, phase two will see the development of more than 200 nearby housing units along with 15 single-family homes, constructed in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The transit-oriented housing development is expected to make it easier for individuals to live and work in Traverse City. This project takes a big-picture view of the challenges facing the community by connecting the dots between transit, housing, and jobs. Also, a recently completed LaFranier Park-n-Ride transfer area is expected to improve connectivity for many BATA routes.

Both project phases include the development of new trails and the permanent preservation of 20 acres of wooded wetland, protecting the headwaters of a nearby creek.

Funding for the transit phase of the project came from a variety of sources including $13 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation, $10 million in transportation funds from the State of Michigan, $5.4 million in capital funds allocated from BATA, and $2 million from the sale of the Cass Road Facility. Additional funding was received by the Traverse City Housing Commission for the phase two residential project.

“Our new facility has been amazing. We have been able to take three different types of facilities and meld them into one,” Lingaur said. “The very fact that we can house all our vehicles inside our new facility is so great, considering our winter weather. There will be no more warming up vehicles in the early morning after they have spent all night in the cold and snow.”

BATA also maintains its Hall Street Transfer Station in downtown Traverse City. It’s here that BATA’s fixed routes meet to form a traditional “hub and spoke” transportation format.

BATA Executive Director Named

It was announced in July the selection of Jeff Meilbeck as BATA’s next Executive Director. Meilbeck, who is from Flagstaff, AZ, has more than 25 years of transit and municipal leadership experience. His official start date is Oct. 1, 2025.

BATA’s Board of Directors completed an extensive nationwide search that started in December 2024 after BATA’s former Executive Director, Kelly Dunham, took a leadership position with a private sector company.

The criteria BATA’s Board identified for the agency’s new leader was selective and included having small urban transit agency and executive leadership experience. BATA received more than 100 applications for the position. The applicants were narrowed down to the top candidates and Meilbeck was interviewed in-person by the BATA Board during their June 2025 board meeting.

“We’re excited to add Jeff’s leadership skills to the BATA Team,” BATA Board of Directors Chairman Wayne Schmidt said, in a press release. “His experience will be valuable as BATA continues to grow and collaborate with our region’s new metropolitan planning organization.”

Meilbeck’s previous experience includes working as the CEO and General Manager of the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) in Flagstaff, and as the Executive Director of MetroPlan, Flagstaff’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. He also worked as the Interim City Manager for the City of Flagstaff and numerous other public service roles.

Meilback has received multiple awards and recognitions including Transit Manager of the Year by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), and his role involving the Small Urban Transit System of the Year by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

“It is an honor and privilege to serve as BATA’s new Executive Director,” Meilbeck said in the release. “BATA provides essential services for the community, and I look forward to helping grow public transportation for the region while honoring BATA’s mission of improving lives by linking people and communities in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties.”

Full Speed Ahead

As stated, there are many wonderful things about Traverse City and the surrounding area. It’s a place where people from all over the world visit, and where many eventually end up staying. It also affords opportunities for BATA to grow and meet different needs.

The transit system continues to see its ridership numbers increase, especially since the dark days of the COVID pandemic. In 2024, BATA vehicles recorded 1.7 million service miles, and ridership was just over 420,000 passenger trips. Those figures are not as high as BATA’s pre-COVID numbers, but they are growing.

Lingaur said the pandemic provided a big learning experience for transit agencies all over the country, including BATA.

“One thing we learned, as a public transportation provider, is the importance of being flexible. That was key when trying to adjust to shifting needs during the pandemic. It included making sure riders wore masks, were properly spaced, and had access to hand sanitizer,” Lingaur said. “It was also important to protect our drivers, such as installing security barriers. We never stopped serving the public during the pandemic. We kept rolling the entire time as many of our passengers still needed to see the doctor, get to a job, and/or go to the grocery store.”

Lingaur shared how several BATA drivers played a key role during the pandemic in transporting people who were COVID positive, such as those who needed transportation from a local hospital back to their homes.

“We had around nine BATA drivers who volunteered for that work, wearing hazmat suits,” he said. “They provided a way home for those people, which shows how valuable our employees are — willing to go the extra mile to help people in need.”

Currently, BATA employs approximately 150 staff members, with over 100 of those people being drivers.

As for the future, Lingaur said BATA officials will continue to work on service improvements to meet the growing needs of current and future riders. That includes the implementation of new technology to:

• Grow BATA’s fleet of electric vehicles;
• More efficiently schedule BATA’s on-demand microtransit service;
• Provide updated route planning via real-time GPS tracking;
• More efficiently park BATA’s vehicles inside its new facility to better prepare for the next day of service;
• Help improve each driver’s pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections; and,
• Develop a more efficient passenger fare system.

Not only will such technology help BATA become a more efficient public transportation system but will also allow the system to attract new riders, according to Lingaur.

“Right now, most of our current ridership can be broken down into three categories — one-third are students and young riders, one-third are senior citizens, and one-third are people with mobility challenges,” he said. “I do see a greater number of choice riders coming back. They were more prevalent before the pandemic. It helps to offer more services that choice riders have an interest in, such as our transportation to Cherry Capital Airport, in Traverse City. It’s now the third-busiest airport in the state, and we are helping people leave their personal vehicles at home as they fly.”

Officials at BATA are also working hard to implement its “Next Wave” Transit Master Plan. Introduced in 2022, the plan provides a 5- to 10-year roadmap in guiding the agency’s future priorities. It’s also designed to help identify how best to use the agency’s resources within the community.

“There are goals in the plan that we still need to reach, such as increasing the frequency of our city routes and expanding our overall service area,” Lingaur said. “Other goals include seeking ways to become more efficient and increasing staff as the need arises.

“It’s also important we work with other transit professionals and agencies in the state and country. That involves learning what they are doing to succeed that we, at BATA, may also capitalize on. The end goal is to always seek better ways to serve our passengers and communities.”

Visit bata.net.