First look at passenger rail survey results

March 9, 2026

By Carolyn Ulstad
Groundwork Center’s Transportation Program Manager

The North+South Passenger Rail design survey has officially closed, and the response from communities across Michigan has been remarkable. As part of the ongoing rail study (which will be wrapping up this spring), the online survey invited the public to share how this future rail line could best serve their travel needs if they were to travel by train. The level of participation exceeded our expectations.

In just over a month, 21,786 people (over 8,000 by day 2!) completed the survey that was widely circulated by media outlets and could be found on the northsouthrail.org 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.

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!

More than 75% of respondents said they have previously ridden a train in the United States, suggesting that many of the participants may already be familiar with rail travel and its benefits.

We’ll cover all the survey question results in upcoming reports and emails, but let’s get the conversation started with results from the four questions below!

…to read on, head over to groundworkcenter.org