Light Rail Right Behind Rapid Bus, Mayor Hopes

By Jim Ludwick

Journal Staff Writer

September 28, 2004

Rapid-bus service, planned for a December launch in Albuquerque, will be "a perfect precursor for light rail," Mayor Martin Chávez said Monday.

Chávez, addressing news media representatives at a luncheon, said Albuquerque could eventually get a light-rail system, but he said it's unclear how long it will take because it will depend on federal help with the expense.

Rapid-bus service is intended to resemble light rail at a much lower cost. Buses will drive quickly across town, making relatively few stops and using traffic-signal equipment that will give the buses green lights, Chávez said.

It has been done successfully in other cities, he said. "We're banking a lot on this. The challenge is to get people out of their cars and onto the buses. It will tell me a lot about how light rail will do in this community," he said.

Chávez said it's "a complete revisioning of mass transportation in Albuquerque."

He said Albuquerque has an efficient bus system, but it takes a long time to travel across town by bus. The rapid-bus system

is meant to make bus travel competitive with car use, he said. "It will give us the speed," he said. "It is a major change in the way we do the transit business in this city."

The service will initially focus on Central from Wyoming to Unser, with a loop to the Uptown area. Chávez said it could eventually expand to other routes.

"There will be kinks along the way. We've just never done anything of this magnitude in transportation in Albuquerque," he said, but he expressed optimism about the service.