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PROVO — Provo and Orem has had UTA bus service for decades and the bus depot in Orem is always busy. But Bus Rapid Transit is different: a faster, more direct route — similar to a TRAX line, but on wheels. Proponents believe it is critical to prepare for ongoing growth.
“So as we grow we are all concerned about reducing cars and parking and smog, and this allows our residents and students to move around the city without automobile,” said Provo Mayor John Curtis.
And that is why Curtis has pushed for the arrival of Bus Rapid Transit that unlike traditional UTA bus service, will allow riders to be picked up several times an hour along the main routes.
"You can't really compare this to a bus anymore than you can compare it to TRAX,” Curtis said. “It has some characteristics of both. It runs through dedicated lanes through half of the route, it has a limited number of stops, it is prepaid, so a lot of the things you sense with TRAX, you will also feel with Bus Rapid Transit.”
The route will provide service from the Provo mall to the Provo FrontRunner station to BYU and onto UVU, as well as the Orem FrontRunner station.
Part of the project includes improving the stretch of University Parkway between North Provo and University Mall. The $190 million project is being funded by a federal grant and local sales tax already in place.
“This comes out of proceeds that have been approved by our voters twice in the last decade, so the tax has already been approved and collected, there is no additional tax with this,” Curtis said.
While there was some opposition to the project before Tuesday night's approval by both the Provo and Orem city councils, Curtis believes as time goes on, people in Provo and Orem will value Bus Rapid Transit.
“This is an important foundational building block for the future of our city. The infrastructure that this brings helps us move into the decades ahead with more people, but at the same time maintaining our quality of life,” Curtis said.
Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, including changes to sections of University Parkway.
The new bus system is set to be up and running in two years.
