BRT buses selected; construction nears.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Last July, Lane Transit District leaders thought - wishfully, as it turned out - that they'd break ground in a few months on their state-of-the-art bus rapid transit system.

It's now a year later - and this time, they really mean it.

LTD has begun negotiating with New Flyer of America to buy five "Invero" transit buses for the first phase of the system.

The buses - at $966,000 each - will run between the downtown Eugene bus station and a new station in downtown Springfield. New Flyer says it can deliver them by summer 2006.

The Invero buses will have the streamlined European look of light rail vehicles, but will run on regular road surfaces, using hybrid-electric propulsion and automated guidance systems.

"The money is waiting for us, and all the approvals are in," said Stefano Viggiano, LTD's planning and development manager. "We've been holding off to complete our designs until we had a decision on which vehicles we wanted to use. So now, we can get to completion fairly quickly."

While people won't be swooshing along in futuristic Inveros for three years yet, work is set to begin this summer. The district may begin moving and installing utilities within the next few weeks, and LTD will hold a ground-breaking for the new downtown Springfield station on July 28.

Springfield contractor John Hyland Construction will do the $3.25 million project, which includes eight bus bays and 5,000 square feet of customer service and retail space. Completion is scheduled for August 2004.

The new station, just south of South A Street between Pioneer Parkway East and Fifth Street, will serve all of the bus traffic that makes connections in downtown Springfield, not just bus rapid transit.

Nonetheless, "it will be a cornerstone of the new BRT system," LTD general manager Ken Hamm said.

Bus rapid transit falls somewhere between light rail and conventional buses. It uses special stations, a combination of separate vehicle lanes and regular street travel, automatic guidance systems, curb-level entry into buses and prepaid fares to offer trainlike speed, convenience and comfort.

A year ago, LTD had its eye on a bus called the Phileas, manufactured in the Netherlands. But the increasing strength of the Euro against the dollar drove the cost of the bus 40 percent higher, nearly double the price of the New Flyer models.

In addition, LTD all along had harbored concerns about how to secure service from such a great distance. Besides, the transit district needed a federal waiver to buy buses manufactured outside the United States.

While LTD waited to clear that hurdle, New Flyer announced its entry into the bus rapid transit vehicle market. The company is based in Manitoba, but does its manufacturing in the United States.

"It happened at just the right time for us," Hamm said. "A few years ago, we were one of 10 transit districts around the country interested in bus rapid transit. Then there were 20, and now there are 200 - it's increasing exponentially."

LTD decided to pursue a bus rapid transit system, commonly nicknamed BRT, in 1995 and became one of 10 cities to receive special research and planning assistance from the Federal Transportation Administration to develop its program.

Since then, LTD has taken the lead in putting a full-fledged BRT system together, and New Flyer credits LTD for "facilitating New Flyer's entry into this emerging market."

"New Flyer of America sees Lane Transit District at the leading edge of bus rapid transit development in the U.S.," said Bill Stanton, the firm's marketing and product development director.

The buses - 60 feet long and articulated so they can negotiate curves and corners - will accommodate 47 seated passengers, with a maximum capacity of 100 people. Bicycle commuters can take their bikes on board. Each coach will have doors opening on both the right and left sides so passengers can get in and out on either platform at a BRT station.

The total cost to build Phase I - linking the downtown Eugene and Springfield areas - will be about $16 million, with 80 percent coming from federal transportation funds.

Future BRT phases, which have no funding yet, will run north from downtown Springfield along Pioneer Parkway to the Gateway area; go from downtown Eugene north on Coburg Road to the Crescent Avenue area; and may include a connection to the east to the Pioneer Parkway route.

CAPTION(S):

"Invero" buses will whoosh riders between stations.