Vancouver, WA: It’s official: The Vine on Mill Plain, C-TRAN’s second bus rapid transit line, will begin service on Sunday, October 1. The announcement was made during the C-TRAN Board of Directors meeting Tuesday evening.
C-TRAN will celebrate the new line with a grand opening event on Saturday, September 30. The community gathering will include food, giveaways, family-friendly activities and more. Additional details about the event will be announced later this summer.
The Vine on Mill Plain will serve 37 new stations along a 10-mile corridor between downtown Vancouver and the Clark College Columbia Tech Center campus in east Vancouver. Near the college, the system will serve a new Mill Plain Transit Center being built as part of the project, at Mill Plain and 184th Avenue. When it opens, The Vine on Mill Plain will replace C-TRAN’s existing Route 37.
“Mill Plain is one of the most important corridors in our community, and we’re thrilled for the new opportunities The Vine will bring,” said Shawn M. Donaghy, C-TRAN’s Chief Executive Officer. “Quality transportation options improve quality of life. The addition of this line builds on the tremendous success of the original Vine route, and sets the stage for continued growth in the coming years.”
“This is an exciting milestone for Clark County and for C-TRAN,” said Scott Patterson, C-TRAN’s Chief Capital Projects and Planning Officer. “With the continued support of the community and our partners, we’re opening The Vine on Mill Plain two months ahead of schedule, and the project remains on track to finish under budget.”
The Vine on Mill Plain represents an expansion of The Vine system. The first segment, serving Vancouver’s Fourth Plain corridor, began operating in 2017. Future Vine corridors are already in planning for Highway 99 and East Fourth Plain/162nd Avenue. By creating an interconnected network of bus rapid transit service in Clark County, C-TRAN aims to improve access to transportation for the entire community. Bus rapid transit, or BRT, uses a combination of features—including larger vehicles, enhanced station design, technology and improved passenger amenities—to create a faster, more efficient and reliable service. BRT benefits not only the corridors it serves, but the other local bus routes that connect to it.
When The Vine first opened on Fourth Plain in 2017, it became the region’s first BRT system. It saw immediate success. By the end of 2017, ridership on The Vine was 45 percent higher than the service it replaced. Additional ridership increases followed in 2018 (19 percent) and 2019 (10 percent). In 2019 alone, The Vine carried more than 1.4 million trips. Ridership is now growing again post-pandemic. But the benefits of quality transit service are more than just rides. Since The Vine opened, there have been more than 2,000 housing units added within a half-mile of Fourth Plain, and roughly $250 million in development value.
To differentiate the two Vine segments operating on Fourth Plain and Mill Plain, C-TRAN will also use color designations. The Vine on Fourth Plain is known as the “Green” line, and Mill Plain will be served by the “Red” line.
Opening The Vine on Mill Plain culminates a five-year planning process that began with broad outreach along the corridor and community in 2018. Construction officially kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mill Plain Transit Center site in September 2021. For now, work continues along the Mill Plain corridor and the new transit center, before construction winds down this summer as the new service prepares for launch.
For more information about current and future corridors on The Vine, visit www.catchthevine.com.
C-TRAN is the regional public transportation provider for Clark County. It offers Local bus service within its Clark County service area, plus Regional and Express bus service to Portland. C-TRAN also provides on-demand service with The Current, operating in Camas/Washougal, Ridgefield/La Center, WSU Vancouver/Salmon Creek, Rose Village, and the Port of Vancouver. For more information on C-TRAN please visit C-TRAN’s website at www.c-tran.com, or call Customer Service at 360-695-0123.
Contact:
Eric Florip, Manager of Communications and Marketing
360-906-7391 Office
360-904-9641 Cell
Eric.Florip@c-tran.org