Passenger Timothy Sadlier II is prepared for the elements as he boards a C-Tran Red Vine bus at Turtle Place Station. (Photos by Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Wearing a rain poncho, colored holiday lights and a wooden crucifix necklace, Timothy Sadlier II boarded the new Vine on Mill Plain on a recent rainy morning.
He used to take Route 37, C-Tran’s Mill Plain Boulevard route before it was replaced by the Vine. Although Sadlier prefers The Vine on Mill Plain, he said he misses the old route’s more frequent stops, especially between Interstate 205 and 136th Avenue.
Since the bus rapid transit line nicknamed the Red Vine opened in October, both riders and C-Tran are adjusting to the new service. Early returns are positive, said Eric Florip, C-Tran’s manager of communications and marketing.
“Anytime you launch a new service, there is somewhat of an adjustment period for riders and for the service itself,” Florip said. “In this case, with new stations, a new corridor and a new transit center, it’ll take some time before we know the full impact of The Vine on Mill Plain. But having said that, we definitely like what we’re seeing so far and are happy with what we’re hearing.”
One of Sadlier’s frequent stops is his church off Chkalov Drive and Mill Plain Boulevard. On Route 37 eastbound and westbound, he could hop off at Chkalov Drive. Now, only the eastbound Vine on Mill Plain stops at Chkalov Drive. The nearest westbound stops are at 104th Avenue west of I-205 and 126th Avenue.
C-Tran considered a westbound stop at Chkalov Drive but decided against it because of complications posed by the I-205 interchange and traffic congestion, Florip said, adding that a westbound stop at Chkalov Drive may be added in the future.
C-Tran’s bus rapid transit lines, known as Vines, have 60-foot buses, fewer stations, but with raised platforms, ticket vending machines and real-time passenger information.
“You streamline those stops so there aren’t as many, but it gives you other benefits … including efficiency and travel time,” Florip said.
Over the first two months of service of the Mill Plain Vine, the preliminary ridership count is 115,200, about a 30 percent increase over the same two-month period last year on Route 37, which had 88,729 riders, according to Florip. Over the past year, fixed-route ridership is up roughly 20 percent.
Eli Baker, who rides C-Tran nearly every day, usually sees 15 people aboard the Mill Plain Vine at any given point. Baker misses Route 37’s terminus at Fisher’s Landing but believes the bus rapid transit line is better because it’s faster and feels better overall.
Although it’s only a few minutes quicker than Route 37, “when you compound that trip after trip, day after day, month after month, it really adds up,” Florip said. “Not only an operational savings, but an efficiency savings for riders who are using it.”
Coming up
The Vine is set to expand in the coming years with a proposed route on Highway 99, from the Vancouver waterfront to Washington State University Vancouver, and the Fourth Plain extension from the Vancouver Mall to either the Mill Plain Transit Center or the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center. Service on both lines is projected to start in 2027.
This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.
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