After 6 Year Battle, C-Tran's Bus Rapid Transit System Ready To Launch

Saturday's snowfall didn't stop nearly 200 Clark County, Washington, residents from turning up for the launch event of C-TRAN's newest addition to the county transit system, The Vine. That's according to C-TRAN spokeswoman, Christine Selk.

The party included food, games, and giveaways — but Selk says the icing on the cake was ... well, the cake.

"It was basically a 3-D replica of an articulated vehicle, down to our color scheme. It had working headlights in the cake. It had all of The Vine logos painted on it with fondant and frosting," Selk said.

"It was like just a regular, very miniature bus getting ready to roll out onto the street."

But the cake, of course, won't be rolling out onto the street. And neither, as it turns out, will the life-sized articulated buses — at least, not yet.

While inclement weather may not have dissuaded party-goers, it is a problem for The Vine's new, 60-foot long articulated busses. The buses were designed to be bigger, faster and better at on-and-off-boarding riders than their predecessors. But Selk says that unlike the pre-existing 40-foot long buses, the new vehicles do not come equipped with automatic drop-down chains. What's more, their accordion-like thoraxes make them cumbersome to drive in snow and ice.

So, though scheduled to begin services on Sunday, Selk says the new buses won't actually begin traversing The Vine's route — a six-mile stretch, mostly along Vancouver's heavily-trafficked Fourth Plain Corridor — until after the weekend's winter storm blows over. In the meantime, riders along the new route will have to content themselves with the county's 40-foot buses of old.

"It's unfortunate," Selk said on Saturday, "and we're disappointed that the day that we had flagged for the beginning of revenue service is not going to be something that we're going to be able to take advantage of. But we can't control the weather... and we have got to put the safety of our riders and the safety of our operators before anything else."

It's another bump in a road that's been riddled with six years worth of potholes.

The seed for The Vine was planted back in 2010 as part of Clark County's long-term transit plan, C-TRAN 2030. The plan's name belies a futuristic strategy more suitable to a sci-fi thriller than the streets of Vancouver, but its goals are relatively straightforward — grow the county's transportation network, improve commuter access to buses and routes, and increase the frequency of bus travel. Item five on the bulleted list is a description of what would become The Vine: "Construct C-TRAN's first bus rapid transit line with service along Fourth Plain Boulevard."

The plan was unanimously approved by C-TRAN's board. But later, the $53 million price tag on this particular part of the project raised eyebrows. In 2012, voters rejected a proposed sales tax increase that would have funded C-TRAN's cost of building The Vine, as well as a share of the the controversial and since-dormant Columbia River Crossing.

In the wake of that vote, C-TRAN had to come up with a new model for financing the project. Today, The Vine's funding breaks down like this: 80 percent is paid for by the federal government, 5.6 percent comes from the state of Washington, and the rest comes from C-TRAN's local funds budget.

It's an expensive up-front investment — but C-TRAN says that once The Vine's in service, it will actually cost less to operate than the service it's replacing. Selk says it's expected to grow the local economy, too, by increasing the area's attractiveness to people and businesses.

Still, not everyone in Clark County is convinced. Over the years, The Vine has faced opposition from officials and taxpayers alike. Former Clark County Republican Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke both vehemently opposed the project during their time in office. And in 2015, a group of 19 taxpayers — many of them Republican political activists — actually sued C-TRAN in an attempt to block funding for The Vine. The lawsuit was struck down, but opposition remains.

For her part, Selk took party turnout at the launch on Saturday as hopeful proof of community support for the project. "We are thrilled and proud that so many folks came out in frigid weather to cheer the launch of The Vine," Selk wrote. "We think it reflects the excitement that our community feels toward this project. Our riders are truly the heart and soul of this project, and in celebrating it, we celebrate them."

Courtesy of Jack Burkman

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