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January 20 2019
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Vol. IV • No. 2
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$210M Utah Valley Express Nears Completion in Provo, Orem By Chuck Harvey CEG CORRESPONDENT
A $210M bus rapid transit system project is rolling along in the growing Utah cities of Provo and Orem. The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) developed plans for the Provo-Orem bus rapid transit to address transit as well as roadway infrastructure needs. The system will be known as Utah Valley Express and is described by UTA as “light rail on rubber tires.”
Work on the Utah Valley Express line began in June 2018 and was originally scheduled for completion in spring 2019. However, buses began rolling nine months early in August in order to support the transit needs of Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University. Amenities such as electronic real-time signage, dedicated bus lanes and traffic signal priority will roll out as construction continues, making the system more efficient. Although the project is moving along faster than expected, it hasn’t been without its problems. The Utah Transit Authority photo
Utah Transit Authority photo
Crews widened the roadway on University Parkway, 700 North and University Avenue.
price tag of the project rose substantially because of increased construction and real estate costs. Project officials dealt with the problem by cutting the scope of the work and by utilizing local funding to cover the increases. Extra-long buses will have use of bus-only lanes with signal prioritization for about half their 10.5-mi. route. Crews widened the roadway on University Parkway, 700 North and University Avenue. The route in Provo and Work on the Utah Valley Express line began in June 2018 and was orig- Orem will include Utah Valley inally scheduled for completion in spring 2019. University, University Mall,
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Brigham Young University, downtown Provo and the Provo Centre mall. The buses will be powered by a clean diesel hybrid fuel. Paying for Construction Funding for the bus rapid transit system comes from various sources. About $75 million of the cost will come from the Federal Transit Administration. Some of the funding was contributed by the Utah Department of Transportation for road widening that was done in conjunction with UTA’s bus project. A local match of $75 million
will come from transit taxes already being paid and collected in Utah County. Taxes or a sale of bonds could cover remaining costs. The new bus system will carry about 13,000 riders a day and traverse the planned route in about 38 minutes. At its capacity, the transit system is expected to take about 5,000 cars off the roadways. UTA and UDOT determined that use of buses for rapid transit is the most cost-effective solution. The cost of building a bus rapid transit route is about a third of the cost of light rail because of rail’s high cost of infrastructure. see TRANSIT page 6
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