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| Washington Group International designs LA bus transit system The California Transportation Foundation recently named the Los Angeles METRO's Orange Bus Rapid Transit Line, which was designed by Washington Group International, the TRANNY Awards 2006 Project of the Year. The project also earned Transit Project of the Year honors in the statewide competition, which recognizes outstanding achievements in California transportation. Washington Group designed the 14-mile-long line in Southern California's San Fernando Valley under a subcontract to the design-build contractor, the Shimmick/Obayashi joint venture. The line began operations in October 2005, connecting communities from North Hollywood to Woodland Hills. Bus rapid transit is an increasingly popular transit approach that provides buses with dedicated rights-of-way on existing city streets. The systems are considerably less expensive and quicker to build than rail transit lines and provide several advantages over traditional bus service, such as off-board fare collection, platform loading, fewer stops, better reliability, larger vehicles, and signal priority at intersections. Promotion of BRT systems is a major initiative for the U.S. Federal Transportation Administration. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |