Groundwork released the intial results of a survey regarding its long-gestating North+South Passenger Rail Project.

In just over a month, 21,786 people completed the survey that was widely circulated by media outlets and could be found on the project website.

"The survey's strong turnout provides clear evidence of widespread interest in passenger rail and offers valuable insight into what potential riders see as important elements of their travel experience," Groundwork said in an email to supporters. 

The highest response rates came from Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties, which together contributed 7,030 submissions. Given that these are among Michigan’s most populous counties, this was not surprising. Notably, however, the survey reached every corner of the state, with at least one response from every Michigan county.

Some highlights, per Groundwork:

- When asked how they would use the service, over 65% indicated they would ride the train for occasional trips, while more than 25% said they would want to use it for both occasional travel and regular commuting if possible.

- Interest in travel was fairly evenly distributed across seasons, with a slightly higher preference for fall and summer travel. The current travel patterns across the state lean toward more summer and spring travel by car, so the survey responses may point to pent-up demand for safer, more comfortable winter travel when road conditions can be unpredictable, and could have been on people’s minds given that this was a winter survey.

- When asked why people would be interested in rail travel, the top reason was the option to have down-time to do things like read and relax, something it seems we all need more of these days! With a drive time between Traverse City and Detroit around four hours, it’s understandable why many people also answered that they would like the opportunity to walk around and stretch their legs.

-When looking at the age of people responding, survey participation was broadly balanced among groups over the age of 25. Given that there was strong coverage by local, more traditional, media outlets it may explain why younger adults responded at lower rates, given that they may get their news more often from other kinds of media sources.