C-Tran debuts new bus rapid transit service Sunday

The $53 million project is the first bus rapid transit system in Southwest Washington and the Portland metro area. The buses will run from Vancouver Mall to downtown Vancouver mainly along the Fourth Plain corridor — C-Tran’s busiest service area.

To help the public adapt to using The Vine, C-Tran staff will be out along the route for the first week of operation to help guide riders though the process and answer questions.

C-Tran officials are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and hoping conditions stay favorable. As of Wednesday, the National Weather Service predicts rain for Sunday, possibly mixed with freezing rain.

“We of course have a snow route plan in place for The Vine, but we’re hoping nature smiles on us and we don’t have to use it out of the gate,” Selk said.

Bus rapid transit is designed to be faster than traditional bus service. Rather than put money in a farebox, passengers will purchase fares at bus stop vending machines with cash or cards before boarding. Bus rapid transit buses get priority at traffic lights, either by lengthening green lights or shortening red lights. Also, the buses’ low, wide floors make it easier for passengers in wheelchairs or scooters to load quickly.

The long, hinged buses have almost twice the seating capacity of traditional transit buses, as well as interior storage space for bikes.

C-Tran promises the The Vine will offer faster, more frequent service to passengers — up to 10 minutes per trip compared with fixed-route service — while costing the agency less to operate than the bus routes it replaces.

On weekdays, The Vine will hit each of its 34 stops every 10 minutes between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. On weekends, it’ll stop every 15 minutes between 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Selk said The Vine is being finished on time and under budget, though the final costs won’t be known until midyear, when accountants close out the agency’s grant.

According to C-Tran, federal grants covered 80 percent of the cost, state grants covered about 6 percent and C-Tran covered about 14 percent.

Routes 4 and 44, which The Vine is replacing, together served a little more than 1.6 million people in 2015. Counting all the routes that serve the area, C-Tran riders take an average of close to 2 million trips per year along the corridor.

The Vine is 6 miles long and the most ambitious project in C-Tran history. It took more than a year to construct all the large, elaborate bus stops.

The project also contributed to the revitalization of downtown Vancouver. The Vine’s terminus, Turtle Place, is decorated with a large mural, sculptures and inlaid art around the bus stop. The site was once part of C-Tran’s Seventh Street Transit Center, which was closed in 2007 when the agency dispersed its downtown bus stops because of petty crime and other issues on the street. Turtle Place is on the north side of Seventh Street, between Main and Washington.

In the days leading up to the grand opening, Selk, said the mood around the agency was “equal parts busy and excited.”

“C-Tran has put a lot of energy and hard work into every phase of this project, and it is very gratifying to see it come to fruition,” she said. “A capital development project of this size is new for our agency, and everyone played a role in the final outcome.”

Opposition to project

The project has its share of opponents and was rejected once by voters.

In 2012 voters rejected a proposed sales tax increase that would have covered the local cost of building The Vine, plus the cost of operating MAX light rail from Portland to Clark College as part of the now-defunct Columbia River Crossing.

The agency went on to pay its local match for The Vine from uncommitted capital reserves.

Some political leaders opposed the project. Former county Councilor David Madore spoke against bus rapid transit, saying the project was too expensive and ignored the perspective of the car-commuting public.

It was a refrain Madore continued and fellow Councilor Tom Mielke echoed. More than once the duo tried to put the brakes on the project during Regional Transportation Commission and C-Tran board meetings.

Connie Jo Freeman, a Washougal city councilor and C-Tran board member, was another opponent, calling it a Ferrari of transit options when a Ford Pinto would be adequate.

In November 2013, Clark County voters favored a symbolic resolution placed on the ballot by Madore and Mielke that opposed bus rapid transit projects unless they are first approved by a countrywide advisory vote.

Lawsuit fails

In November 2015, a group of 19 taxpayers, many of whom were Republican political activists, sued C-Tran to block the agency from receiving federal funds for The Vine, and asked a judge to stop the agency from using sales tax revenue on planning and funding. The suit was struck down in Clark County Superior Court and the judge’s decision was upheld by an appellate court.

But the project also had its share of supporters, beyond the several C-Tran and RTC board majorities that approved the project during key decision points along the way. In February 2013, a group of residents, Americans Building Community, presented the C-Tran Board of Directors with more than 250 signatures in support of BRT and endorsements from a handful of neighborhood associations.

Therese McMillan, the former acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, also spoke highly of the project when she announced a $38.5 million grant to C-Tran.