A Short Q&A About The Proposed Bus Routes With CDTA CEO Carm Basile wants to expand The Capital District Transportation Authoritys new rapid transit system to include the east-west Western Avenue corridor in Albany, and a north-south route between Albany and Troy, NY. Basile, CEO of the transit service, says it will cost up to $40 million to add the 23 miles of service to its existing Bus Plus program. Bus Plus, which has fewer stops, covers 17 miles along Central Avenue, or Route 5, between downtown Albany and downtown Schenectady. It cost $18 million to build. Ridership along the Central Avenue corridor increased 25 percent since the route started operating in 2011, Basile says. I asked Basile for his thoughts on the proposed new route, how it would be funded and any plans for future route expansions. Q - Why did you choose the Western Avenue corridor? A - The Washington Avenue/Western Avenue route is the fastest growing corridor in the system. The other is the north-south river corridor between Albany and Troy. These are places where we can connect people to the community. Its a good ridership mix of students, professors and other workers. Having a breadth of ridership is important to sustain it. Q - Where will the money come from? A - We have a small amount, $500,000 in federal money, to advance the Washington/Western corridor. Both projects will come in at between $30 million and $40 million. We anticipate getting federal capital funds from competitive grants. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, is pushing for that. The north-south corridor might be a combination of our own money and federal grants. We believe in it that much. Q - What ground would the new routes cover? A - Washington-Western would run from downtown Albany to Crossgates Mall in Guilderland. The river corridor would go between Albany and Troy, and possibly north into Cohoes and Waterford.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 15:42:40 +0000
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