The new line officially went into service Sunday
VANCOUVER — Local leaders, visitors and community members joined C-TRAN in observing the grand opening of The Vine on Mill Plain during a ribbon-cutting event Saturday. The new line officially went into service Sunday (Oct. 1).
FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, C-TRAN Chief Executive Officer Shawn M. Donaghy, Vancouver Mayor and C-TRAN Board member Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Clark College President Dr. Karin Edwards and others marked the occasion at the new Mill Plain Transit Center, on the east end of the project corridor.
The Vine on Mill Plain will serve 37 new stations along a 10-mile corridor between downtown Vancouver and the new transit center, located near Mill Plain at 184th Avenue. The Vine on Mill Plain replaces C-TRAN’s Route 37, which previously served the Mill Plain corridor.
“The Federal Transit Administration is proud to support The Vine on Mill Plain, which will create exciting opportunities by connecting people in Clark County with jobs and higher education, while reducing pollution and congestion along the way,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, whose agency provided more than $30 million in federal funds to support the line. “Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s investments in America, more and more communities are enjoying the benefits of high-quality public transportation.”
“It’s such an exciting time to see this important milestone become a reality. We’re thrilled for the new opportunities The Vine will bring to Mill Plain and the larger community,” said Shawn M. Donaghy, C-TRAN’s chief executive officer. “This new line builds on the success of the original Vine route, and we’re not done yet.”
The Vine on Mill Plain represents an expansion of The Vine system. The first segment, serving Vancouver’s Fourth Plain corridor, began operating in 2017. Future Vine corridors are already in planning for Highway 99 and East Fourth Plain/162nd Avenue. By creating an interconnected network of bus rapid transit service in Clark County, C-TRAN aims to improve access to transportation for the entire community. Bus rapid transit, or BRT, uses a combination of features — including larger vehicles, enhanced station design, technology and improved passenger amenities — to create a faster, more efficient and reliable service. BRT benefits not only the corridors it serves, but the other local bus routes that connect to it.
When The Vine first opened on Fourth Plain in 2017, it became the region’s first BRT system. According to C-TRAN, by the end of 2017 ridership on The Vine was 45 percent higher than the service it replaced. Additional ridership increases followed in 2018 (19 percent) and 2019 (10 percent). In 2019 alone, The Vine carried more than 1.4 million trips. Ridership is now growing again post-pandemic. But the benefits of quality transit service are more than just rides. Since The Vine opened, there have been more than 2,000 housing units added within a half-mile of Fourth Plain, and roughly $250 million in development value.
To differentiate the two Vine segments operating on Fourth Plain and Mill Plain, C-TRAN will also use color designations. The Vine on Fourth Plain is known as the Green Line, and Mill Plain will be served by the Red Line. A series of other local route changes will also improve connections at the new Mill Plain Transit Center starting October 1.
Opening The Vine on Mill Plain culminates a five-year process that began with broad outreach along the corridor and community in 2018. Construction officially kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mill Plain Transit Center site in September 2021. The Vine on Mill Plain now opens ahead of schedule and under budget.
For more information about current and future corridors on The Vine, visit www.catchthevine.com.
C-TRAN is the regional public transportation provider for Clark County. It offers Local bus service within its Clark County service area, plus Regional and Express bus service to Portland. C-TRAN also provides on-demand service with The Current, operating in Camas/Washougal, Ridgefield/La Center, WSU Vancouver/Salmon Creek, Rose Village, and the Port of Vancouver. For more information on C-TRAN please visit C-TRAN’s website at www.c-tran.com, or call Customer Service at 360-695-0123.
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I recall the CTRAN board meeting at which they decided to move ahead with the expensive 60′ buses and extra large expensive bus stops. In the information provided to the board, there was no compelling evidence of ridership increases indicating that much larger buses were needed than the 40′ buses already in use. I rarely notice more than a handful of riders on Mill Plain on the regular buses. Since that time, officer ridership has plummeted.
However, CTRAN forged ahead with the costly plans for bigger buses and bigger covered bus-stops with Wi-fi anyway.
This article includes no ridership data for 2020-2023 for Mill Plain, or the VINE on 4th Plain.
ClarkCountyToday contributer John Ley has consistently provided the public more data about ridership and the bloated predictions made for future ridership than any of CTRAN’s board meetings or press releases. Boated future ridership predictions that ignore actual ridership are the the primary driver for spending more taxpayer $$ on unnecessary 100′ buses, first on 4th, Plain, now Mill Plain, and according to this article, on as many roads as they can.
Unrealistic bloated future ridership demand is also used to justify gold plated light rail, the most expensive and least flexible public transit option of all.
Ley’s article about the lack of ridership to justify such a costly system on 4th plain rightly asks the question,
Does C-TRAN need ‘high capacity’ and Bus Rapid Transit on The Vine?
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/does-c-tran-need-high-capacity-and-bus-rapid-transit-on-the-vine/
Ley reports that the extra long buses” are 60 feet long and carry up to 100 people with 60 seated, compared to the 40-foot standard bus, which seats 43 people and carries up to 61 passengers.”
Ley’s article notes the exaggerated claims of future ridership on the Vine for 4th plain that were used to justify that costly system, and include actual data on ridership and costs compared to use and demand, factors that should be more carefully scrutinized in advance of such a large expenditure.
The grossly overstated ridership forecasts made for the Vine on 4th Plain haven’t materialized. Actual ridership data clearly shows NO NEED for much larger, far more costly buses and bus-stops on Mill Plain either.
As long as actual ridership data is ignored, companies that profit from the VINE will continue to push their products and services based on fake data, knowing that as long as they get the $$, it won’t matter that the fake forecasts never come true,
The officials at CTRAN and on the CTRAN board apparently have no incentive to save taxpayer $$$ or develop cost effective public transit solutions that better fit the the true needs of the area. CTRAN rakes in a growing amount of $$$ from the sales tax, and also gains state and federal subsidies. However, the amount of tax dollars CTRAN takes in, and the ever increasing salaries and benefits for CTRAN staff and consultants are rarely reported on publicly in detail. The CTRAN board can and should be better stewards of taxpayer funds, not a rubber stamp for the plans developed by consultants that seem to serve high cost vendors above the public good.
John Ley has faithfully studied and reported on actual data and asked the questions every board member should have asked prior to approving this expenditure. When the pandemic and lock downs hit and tanked local businesses, and residents lost jobs, adjustments to reality should have been made and the whole plan re-evaluated until and unless actual ridership really increased, and the consultants forecasts could have been more carefully scrutinized. I very much appreciate the work of citizen Ley in the public interest.