by Daniel Trujillo
Daily Lobo
Students needing to get to school faster this semester can now use the city's Rapid Ride system.
The new route, which began running Dec. 21, runs 11 miles along Central Avenue from Unser Boulevard to Wyoming Boulevard, north on Wyoming and then to the Uptown area.
The route is serviced by 60-foot buses painted in a hard-to-miss red and white color scheme. The buses use a low-emission, diesel-electric hybrid engine, rapid-deploying wheelchair ramp, security cameras and global positioning system units.
The system allows buses to shorten red lights and extend green ones in an effort to make a speedy, more convenient ride, according to the Web site.
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"It's like a strobe light on the bus," said Bill Slauson, director of planning and marketing at the city's transit division. He said it was similar to what emergency vehicles use.
The Rapid Ride stops were rebuilt and decorated like the buses. While passengers wait, a display counts down the time to the next bus arrival.
Stations are placed every half-mile to a mile on major intersections, such as the one at Central Avenue and Cornell Drive in front of the Frontier Restaurant.
Max Smith, a regular patron of Rapid Ride, said he likes the new system.
"There are fewer stops," he said. "It's a lot cleaner."
He added it was a good use of taxpayers' money. It costs only 35 cents for seniors and students to ride the bus. Smith said people will use the new system more, because of the convenient stops.
"I waved a regular bus by the other day," Smith said. "The rapid bus still managed to get me to my destination ahead of the one I waved by."
Lynette Becenti, a UNM sophomore, echoed Smith's sentiments.
"I've ridden it twice," she said. "I like it. It's a lot faster, since they don't stop at every stop."
Slauson credits much of the project's success to Mayor Martin Chavez.
In 2002, the mayor and a group of executives examined similar systems in areas such as Los Angeles. It took a year and a half to implement and cost roughly $10 million, most of which went to buy the buses.
The federal government is funding 80 percent of the project.
"The city is only having to pick up 20 percent of the cost," Slauson said. "The taxpayer shouldn't see a big change."
