www.minnlocal.com – Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011 – Apple Valley, Rosemount & Eagan Sun-Current
In the Community, With the Community, For the Community
Buses FROM PAGE 1 minor finishing touches completed the next spring. Station-to-station service with 15minute frequency between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. is scheduled to begin in late 2012, said Morneau. “We’ll be running in our shoulder lanes that we’re constructing now as well as our highway lanes,” Morneau said. The BRT vehicle route begins at 155th Street at the Apple Valley Transit Station and heads north 10 miles to the Mall of America in Bloomington. The buses are planned to make six stops on its 25-minute route, Morneau said. The buses will be delivered to the MVTA sometime next fall. The NovaBus on display – the manufacturer’s demo model – had a seating capacity of 35. “The ones we get might have a couple more or a couple less,” Morneau said. All seven buses that will be purchased are 40 feet in length, but Nova offers a 60foot articulated vehicle as well. Morneau said the buses have a lifespan of 12 years. When it comes time to replace the vehicles, the longer buses could be an option for the fleet.
“The 60-foots might be a possibility 10, 12 years down the road,” Morneau said. The vehicle on display was a hybrid model, and Morneau said the seven buses the MVTA acquires could be either diesel or hybrids. “It’s not certain,” he said. The buses are being purchased through the State of Minnesota Cooperative Purchasing Venture for $3,110,463 and funding for the buses is from two primary sources. First, the MVTA secured a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant two years ago that was matched by Regional Transit Capital funds and funds from the Dakota County Regional Railroad Authority, which may be augmented by Counties Transit Improvement Board funds. CTIB collects a quarter-cent sales tax in Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties and a $20 motor vehicle sales tax permitted by the Minnesota Legislature to invest in and advance “transitway” projects by awarding annual capital and operating grants, according to MVTA officials. The Metropolitan Council – the planning agency that serves the seven-county metro area – authorized the funding for the buses at its Dec. 14 meeting, said MVTA Customer Service Manager Robin Selvig. In addition to the buses, the MVTA will need to purchase cameras, automatic
Two men toured the NovaBus BRT vehicle Dec. 14 at the Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley. This display model has a seating capacity of 35 passengers and the seven buses ordered by the MVTA will have roughly the same number of seats. (Photo by Matthew Hankey – Sun Newspapers) vehicle locator system hardware and a parts inventory for maintenance purposes, said Selvig. “I don’t have the timeline in front of me,” Selvig said regarding these future purchases. “I know it will be soon.” The MVTA Board and Dakota County Regional Railroad Authority still need to consider various interior and exterior options for the buses ordered, said Morneau. On the inside, seating arrangement and lighting options need to be finalized. For the exterior, an option to have wheel covers and the shape of the panels are up for discussion, as well the place-
ment of potential bicycle racks, Morneau said. No matter what it decided, the new BRT vehicle is an upgrade over the standard bus models, said Morneau. “For the passengers, the big thing is there’s a little bit more space on the bus,” he said. “There’s a wider boarding area. This bus will be able to pull up flush to the curb. We’ll have level boarding. Wheelchairs should have no problem at all.” “This is really a whole, new style of service,” Selvig said. “It’s a different type of a vehicle than anything we’ve offered before.”
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