JH - 28 LTD Rest in Peace

Joe Hill LTD Project
LTD R.I.P.

By now you all must now know how the Joe Hill LTD Project feels about the BRT Beast. The FTA summary of the BRT project from 2001 lists the LTD BRT project on its web page. This is what the FTA and LTD said in 2001:

Lane Transit District's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will use exclusive lanes, signal priority, and other priority techniques to provide high frequency, fast, transit service along major corridors. The BRT system will create a new image similar to the more positive image the public has of rail systems. This will be accomplished through system design, vehicle selection, and marketing. Phase 1 is
LTD's initial BRT project for the Eugene/Springfield area. This first BRT line is four miles long and will connect downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield—the two largest transit hubs in the system. Ten stations, including the two hub stations that act as anchors for this first phase, will include amenities such as ticket machines, benches, shelters, bike storage, lighting, and information displays. The project will utilize dedicated transitways and bus lanes along with transit signal priority to move BRT vehicles through the corridor more quickly.

The Phase 1 project is intended to be the first of many BRT lines that will create a complete BRT system. Linking LTD's two transit hubs is a vital first step for the system. After the first phase is complete,
additional BRT lines will radiate from the hubs, eventually linking the entire metro area. Neighborhood routes served by small-scale buses will connect passengers to the BRT stations and serve neighborhood activity centers. Funding Construction of the first phase of BRT is estimated to cost approximately $15 million. The primary source of funding is $8.8 million of Federal Transit
Administration Section 5309 funds. These funds provide 59 percent of the Phase 1 costs, with LTD providing the balance from local funds. LTD has committed $1 million of local capital for planning the next two BRT corridors. For full FTA info click the link below: http://www.fta.dot.gov/2400_7883_ENG_HTML.htm

RIP Lane Transit District

So in order to make the ceremony complete the big wigs, politicians and bosses met at some silly location on Franklin Blvd. to Break Ground for EmX. Please note the similarity to the mound to that of a grave. The grave diggers all look so happy. But mourn union employees for this is the grave of progress in collective bargaining for LTD ATU employees. It is a hole filled with money and the bosses are eager to place the earth over it. What a waste. It is indeed a grave and the circumstances are grave.

What is worse, according to the budget document the BRT costs have increased in cost to $22 million dollars. That is a cost over run of 46.6% in just 3 years. $7 million more than what the FTA has on their website. Naturally Hamm got a rewarding pay increase along with Pangborn. But then Hammbert's salary is still a big secret. A cost increase/overrun of $2.3 million per year and no additional federal funds that we have heard about. BRT is the Beast, brothers and sisters. Unlike the worthless blue pigs in the back of the barn, the blue pigs don't consume money anymore. (Although the bosses are working at breathing new life into this scrap metal - Good money after bad.) The BRT beast however will eat money as long as it is alive. We must find a way to stop it.

In Solidarity,
Joe Hill

JH 28