West Eugene residents gathered to protest Lane Transit District’s controversial expansion of its bus system Friday, contending that the building of a new Emerald Express line — better known as “EmX” — along West 11th Avenue will incense residents and businesses alike.
“It’s a gratuitous waste,” said Mike Weber, a member of Lane County Citizens for Responsible Government, which co-organized the demonstration. “I don’t believe it’s appropriate for this area.”
LTD’s proposal, which won the Eugene City Council’s approval March 9, would join downtown with West Eugene’s commercialized West 11th Avenue, and its total cost of $86 million would be funded by both federal and state monies.
The protest’s attendees expressed concern that constructing a new transit line — a route that would take two years to build — is too expensive and would affect businesses along 11th and along 6th and 7th avenues by obstructing customers’ access to parking. Additionally, some critics saw no legitimate demand for a new EmX line through West Eugene.
“You’ve never seen a bus out here with more than six people on it. It’s all automotive out here,” local business owner John Woodrich said. “It’s freedom for people to have a car.”
Off the sidewalk of West 11th Avenue, attendees declared their opposition to LTD’s proposed rapid-transit route, waving Styrofoam boards that read “EmX: The Wrong Bus,” “No Build” and “Responsible Transit: Not EmX.”
Passing cars frequently blared their horns in small gestures of support for the demonstrators, and a few people rolled down their windows, pumping their fists and yelling “No Build.”
For Woodrich, the city’s decision to expand rapid transit is a questionable priority, pointing to Eugene’s dwindling support of its public schools as an example.
“Ninety percent of what goes on in City Hall isn’t about public needs; it’s about keeping the planners working and making big money,” Woodrich said.
The City of Eugene first adopted plans to build a rapid-transit bus system in 2001. LTD’s first EmX route, the Green Line, was established in 2007, linking downtown Eugene to downtown Springfield via Franklin Boulevard. Earlier this year, another route was opened, spanning from downtown Springfield to Gateway Mall.
While the construction of a third EmX line would increase LTD’s operating cost in the short-term, LTD spokesperson Andy Vobora said it’s a forward-thinking approach to revolutionizing the city’s public transit system.
“It does cost more, but it’s a higher level of service. And in the long run it will pay dividends,” Vobora said.
To those in favor of maintaining West Eugene’s traditional bus service, Vobora explained the shortcomings of the current system. As traffic congestion continues to increase relative to Eugene’s growing population, the current bus service loses efficiency and becomes more costly to run, Vobora said. And while adding buses is a temporary solution, he added, it increases operating costs in the long-term, requiring LTD to acquire more buses and employ more drivers.
“If we don’t do this, we’ll look back in 20 years and say we should have started this then, because it will only get more expensive and difficult to do it in the future,” Vobora said.
A public hearing to discuss the extension proposal will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Lane County Fairgrounds’ Wheeler Pavilion.
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