Bus system planners trim costs.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

The Lane Transit District still plans to inaugurate its first Bus Rapid Transit corridor - linking the downtowns of Eugene and Springfield along Franklin Boulevard - sometime in 2006, but changing conditions and rising costs mean scaling back some of the features originally envisioned for the line.

Mark Pangborn, LTD's assistant general manager, says the agency's advisory and technical committees have been mulling over ways to shave $2.2 million from the cost of the $20 million project. Their recommendations will go to the board of directors for a decision on Dec. 15.

"We looked at our budget for the project, and we said, `OK, we can cut back on the design or we can try to find more money,' ' Pangborn said. "We decided to try to do some of both."

The concept of Bus Rapid Transit has become popular throughout the country during the past several years because it offers some of the benefits of light rail systems, such as Portland's Max trains, at a fraction of the cost for right-of-way acquisition and construction.

Instead of building a railroad, BRT uses a combination of techniques to allow buses to travel faster than the surrounding traffic, ranging from separated bus ways along highways to bus-only lanes to head starts at signalized intersections.

Some systems use specially designed buses that look and operate more like light-rail cars, with doors available on both sides and curb-level boarding.

The federal government provides the bulk of the funding - generally 80 percent - for projects such as LTD's EmX, short for Emerald Express.

Recent uncertainties about that funding, combined with increasing construction and operating costs, led to the scramble to redesign parts of the corridor, Pangborn said.

But because of changes in the community, most of the cost-cutting measures make sense and might have been done anyway, he said.

For example, "two of the three stations scheduled for construction in Glenwood were going to be in the middle of Franklin Boulevard," Pangborn said. "But now, with Springfield creating an urban renewal district for Glenwood and starting to work on redoing that area, the alignment of Franklin Boulevard could be changed."

Redesigning the stations for curbside use will save nearly $950,000 from the original plan, he said.

Likewise, LTD may scrap the idea of having a two-block section used exclusively by BRT vehicles on Main Street in downtown Springfield, a savings of another $150,000.

Eliminating fare machines on the corridor would save an additional $510,000, Pangborn said.

"We were going to have prepaid fares and use the honor system, the way they do in Portland and Seattle," he said. "But we analyzed our ridership and determined that almost all the people using the Franklin corridor already would be transfers who had already paid a fare or will have student or other passes."

As an alternative, LTD may choose to operate the Franklin corridor as a free ride - at least until the next corridor, along Springfield's Pioneer Parkway north to the Gateway area, comes online.

That could take several years, "but it would be a great incentive for people to try the system and get used to it," he said.

The remaining cost cuts for the Franklin project would come from using asphalt instead of concrete for crosswalks, which would save $160,000.

The rest of the deficit will be offset by an unexpected infusion of federal money for the project, totaling $750,000, Pangborn said.

Special vehicles for the BRT corridor already have been ordered, at a cost of about $1 million each, and the prototype should be delivered in about a year for testing in Altoona, Pa., he said.

With the bugs worked out, the initial fleet of five buses should be delivered by late summer 2006, with the corridor scheduled to open in late fall.

Besides the proposed Franklin Boulevard and Pioneer Parkway corridors, LTD eventually hopes to extend a BRT system from downtown Eugene north on Coburg Road and also west from downtown Eugene in the vicinity of West 11th Avenue.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lane Transit District board will discuss cost-saving measures for its proposed Bus Rapid Transit corridor along Franklin Boulevard at its regular meeting next week.

When: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15

Where: District headquarters, 3500 E. 17th Ave., Eugene (Glenwood)

Information: 682-6100 or [e-mail]