Editing Nocturnals - RUST CITY (section)

==Transportation==
With a new terminal completed in 2004, [[Cherry Capital Airport]] provides regularly scheduled passenger airline service to [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]], [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]], [[Minneapolis]] and seasonally to [[New York, New York|New York]] as well as to smaller [[Michigan]] destinations to the north. Adjacent to the [[airport]] is a [[United States Coast Guard]] air station (CGAS), responsible for both maritime and land-based [[search and rescue]] operations in the northern [[Great Lakes]] region.

Traverse City also has a public transportation system, the [http://www.bata.net/ Bay Area Transportation Authority] (BATA) which serves most of the Grand Traverse region with dial-a-ride services and a bus service, called the Cherriot, serves Traverse City and the urbanized areas of Garfield Township. BATA recently revealed its first hybrid bus in December, 2005. BATA recently completed a downtown bus transfer terminal on Hall St. , which opened July 21, 2006. The terminal is used to transfer riders to different busses on different routes.[http://bata.net/ridebata_cherriotshome_sysmap.htm BATA Cherriot Bus System Map]

The city is a junction point for several highways: 
*[[U.S. Route 31|US 31]] cuts west across the base of the Leelanau peninsula to [[Benzonia, Michigan|Benzonia]] before continuing south to [[Manistee, Michigan|Manistee]] and other points on the Lake Michigan shore. Northwards, it continues along the east shore of Grand Traverse Bay to [[Charlevoix, Michigan|Charlevoix]] and [[Petoskey, Michigan|Petoskey]], ending just before reaching [[Mackinaw City, Michigan|Mackinaw City]] and the [[Mackinac Bridge]].
*[[M-37 (Michigan highway)|M-37]] runs almost due south through the [[Manistee National Forest]] to [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]]. It continues north up Old Mission Peninsula to end at Old Mission Point in the middle of Grand Traverse Bay.
*[[M-72 (Michigan highway)|M-72]] runs east-west, connecting with [[Empire, Michigan|Empire]] and the [[Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore]] 22 mile west and with [[U.S. Route 131|US 131]], 25 miles east in [[Kalkaska, Michigan|Kalkaska]]. 
*[[M-22 (Michigan highway)|M-22]] follows the Lake Michigan shoreline around the Leelanau Peninsula, providing a scenic drive.

The [[Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway]] (TSBY) provides freight rail service to the Traverse City area on track owned by the state of Michigan. The tracks were once owned by the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] (ex-[[Pere Marquette Railway]]) and the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (ex-[[Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad]]) but were purchased by the state in the late 1970s and early 1980s to preserve rail service in the area. Current freight traffic includes fruit/perishables, scrap metal, and lumber.          

Regular intercity passenger train service ended on [[October 29]], [[1966]], after the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] (C&O) discontinued Grand Rapids - Traverse City - [[Bay View, Michigan|Bay View]] service. Since then, excursion passengers trains have operated in and out of Traverse City on an irregular basis.  Recently, [[Lake Central Rail Tours]] has operated a summer excursion during the Cherry Festival. On [[May 11]], [[1996]], the [[Grand Traverse Dinner Train]] began year round service from the Traverse City depot to [[Williamsburg, Michigan|Williamsburg]] and to [[Walton Junction, Michigan|Walton Junction]]. Unfortunately, dinner train service was suspended in 2004 after a derailment and the company entered into a bitter contract dispute with the [[Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway]]. The train itself was removed to Owosso in mid-July of 2006.