from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0418rapid18.html
Phoenix transit going RAPID
Express service, longer hours coming in July
Judy Nichols
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 18, 2003 12:00 AM
Silver, cantilevered bus stops that might shelter the likes of George Jetson are exploding throughout Phoenix.
They are the signs of benefits to come: a new express service called RAPID, which will start July 14.
The service, patterned after rail travel, includes larger, sleeker, more comfortable buses, designed with commuters in mind. It has new park-and-ride lots and fewer stops so riders get downtown faster. And it has more frequent buses and expanded hours to better accommodate business schedules.
The $50 million project includes 56 new buses and 20 new stops, called stations, that will help people distinguish the express service.
"One of the things we learned from professionals in the transit industry is that when you establish a new service, you need to give it a new identity," said Ed Zuercher, Phoenix public transit director. "The buses are real head-turners, and the stations will be that as well."
The new service will double the capacity of the express buses, and Zuercher said he expects the ridership to double but can't predict how quickly.
Express ridership in Phoenix has not increased in recent years because the current routes are at capacity, Zuercher said.
"You reach a natural saturation point," he said. "People on express buses have less tolerance for standing because they are on the bus for longer periods and on freeways, which is less comfortable. So once you hit capacity, unless you add more buses, ridership will stagnate or decline slightly."
Improved express service is part of the city's overall expansion of public transit, including upgrading of Dial-A-Ride, adding 100 local buses and future light rail service.
The RAPID buses, built in Hungary and finished in Alabama, are made of composite material, said Patrick Rona, president and CEO of North American Bus Industries.
The lightweight material allowed the company to build 45-foot buses, compared to the standard 40-foot steel bus, increasing capacity by 15 percent without increasing operating costs.
Rona said it was the collaboration with Phoenix that pushed North American to design the longer chassis, which now has a two-year backlog in orders from Los Angeles and Chicago.
"They've systematically eliminated all the excuses for not using mass transit," Rona said. "It's more frequent, more rapid, more attractive, more efficient and productive."
They have high-backed, front-facing seats with armrests and overhead racks.
"This is the culmination of what people said they would get out of their cars for," Zuercher said. "They wanted nicer, bigger buses with amenities like reading lights and reclining seats. They wanted routes where they don't make a lot of stops, where they are always in progress to their destination. That's the concept of RAPID."
The new buses look sleek and fast, Zuercher said, and the city wanted something just as distinctive for the stations.
So designer Jed Zimmerman did away with the support poles. Three of them anyway.
A cantilevered canopy hangs from the single 15-foot pole with a support cable. It is 9 feet high and skewed to provide the best shade depending on the location.
The canopy is constructed of two sheets of translucent fiberglass with airspace between to provide insulation so no heat will radiate from the station. At night, lights will make the canopy glow, and a beacon will shine from the top of the pole.
The colors, metallic gray and mint-green, match the buses.
Benches are Slinky-like pieces that can be installed in different configurations, such as an S-shape or half-donut, depending on the site.
When completed, the stations will have electronic signs that give updated information on the routes and the time of the next bus.
The first routes in the service begin July 14, with more being added in the fall.
For more information, go to http://www.phoenix.gov/PUBLICTRANSIT/rapid.html .