A2 Expeditions

In CAN's A2 Expeditions, middle-school aged youth from Green Baxter Court neighborhood are sent on bus trips around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to learn how to navigate the public transportation system and to familiarize themselves with the cities.

For each expedition, CAN staff provides printed directions to the destinations and tokens to ride the bus. The participants are also given a list of objectives to accomplish when they reach their destinations, which range from taking pictures of themselves near a specific landmark or sign to finding specific information at the location to asking questions of the employees at public buildings. Destinations can include educational places such as museums and government buildings, and entertaining places such as swimming pools and the mall.

Points are awarded to the participants for completing expeditions and accomplishing objectives. Participants with enough points have the opportunity to go on a trip to Cedar Point at the end of the summer.

A2 Expeditions teaches teens how to use public transportation responsibly on their own and it helps them gain an age-appropriate level of independence. This program also familiarizes participants with some of the useful, interesting, and fun places in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti they can reach independently by bus.