After nearly seven hours of public comment, the City Council voted 9–4 just after midnight to approve a $2.1 billion transit budget, the largest in the city’s history. The chamber, which had been packed shoulder to shoulder since early evening, had thinned to a few dozen riders, union members and neighborhood advocates by the time the clerk read the final tally. A small cheer went up from the back rows. A few people near the door shook their heads and left without a word.
The plan funds three new bus rapid-transit lines, 140 electric buses and a fare freeze through 2028. It does not include money for the long-debated downtown tunnel, which supporters say would cut crosstown trips by 20 minutes. That omission shaped much of the night’s debate and is likely to shape the next one, too.
What riders will notice first
The first new line, along Western Avenue, is scheduled to open next fall. Buses will run every eight minutes at rush hour and use dedicated lanes for most of the route. Transit officials said riders should expect raised boarding platforms, ticket machines at each station so passengers pay before boarding, and signal priority at major intersections that holds green lights a few seconds longer for approaching buses.
The two other lines, planned for the north-south corridor along Lincoln Boulevard and a crosstown route connecting the east side to the medical district, are expected to open in stages over the following three years. Exact station locations will be finalized after a series of neighborhood meetings this winter, according to the city’s transportation department.
The bus fleet
The 140 electric buses will replace a portion of the city’s aging diesel fleet, some of which has been in service for more than fifteen years. Department staff told the council that the new buses would be delivered in batches, with the first 40 expected in time for the Western Avenue opening. Two existing bus garages will be fitted with charging equipment over the next eighteen months.
Council member Diane Carter, who chairs the transportation committee, called the vote “a down payment, not a finish line.” In remarks before the final roll call, she said the budget was built around what residents had asked for during a year of listening sessions held in libraries, churches and recreation centers across the city.
People told us they don’t need a shiny tunnel in 2040. They need a bus that shows up on time next year.
Diane Carter, City Council
What the budget includes
According to a summary released by the council’s budget office, the $2.1 billion package covers capital projects and operating costs over the next several years. The main elements are:
- Construction of three bus rapid-transit lines, starting with Western Avenue.
- Purchase of 140 electric buses and charging upgrades at two garages.
- A freeze on base fares through 2028.
- Repairs to sidewalks and crosswalks within a quarter mile of new stations.
- Real-time arrival screens at the city’s busiest bus stops.
- Additional maintenance staff and bus operators to support more frequent service.
Budget office staff said the fare freeze alone would cost the system several million dollars a year in lost revenue compared with scheduled increases, a gap the plan covers with sales-tax funds.
The missing tunnel
For many in the chamber, the night was as much about what the budget left out as what it included. The downtown tunnel, which would carry trains beneath the central business district and link two existing rail lines, has been studied for more than a decade. Supporters say it would cut crosstown trips by 20 minutes and finally connect the east and west sides with fast, reliable rail.
Several speakers during public comment urged the council to set aside at least some money for design and engineering work, arguing that delaying the project would only make it more expensive. A retired civil engineer who said he had worked on early feasibility studies told council members that construction costs for large tunnel projects tend to rise sharply with each year of delay.
Carter and other members in the majority said the tunnel was not dead but needed a clearer funding source, likely including state and federal grants, before the city could commit. Transportation department staff confirmed that an updated cost estimate is expected next year.
Opponents raise funding concerns
Opponents argued that the budget leans too heavily on a sales-tax extension voters approved in 2022. The four members who voted no said they would push for an independent audit before the next funding cycle.
Their concerns centered on what would happen if sales-tax revenue fell during an economic slowdown. Sales taxes tend to rise and fall with consumer spending, and critics said building long-term operating costs on that base could leave the system short of money just when riders need it most.
One member who voted against the plan said in a statement after the meeting that she supported better bus service but wanted “a clear-eyed look at the numbers” before the city committed to costs that would outlast the current council. The members who voted no plan to introduce a resolution next month calling for the audit, which would be carried out by an outside accounting firm.
What comes next
The approved budget now moves into a detailed implementation phase. Key dates outlined by city staff include:
- Neighborhood meetings on station locations for the Lincoln Boulevard and crosstown lines, starting this winter.
- Delivery of the first 40 electric buses ahead of the Western Avenue opening.
- Opening of the Western Avenue line next fall.
- An updated cost estimate for the downtown tunnel, expected next year.
A long night in the chamber
The meeting began at 5 p.m. with a scheduled budget presentation, but public comment quickly took over the evening. More than 120 people signed up to speak, each allowed two minutes. Speakers included bus drivers, parents, small business owners along Western Avenue, disability advocates and several high school students who said they rely on buses to get to school and after-school jobs.
Business owners along the Western Avenue corridor were divided. Some welcomed the prospect of more foot traffic from riders. Others worried that dedicated bus lanes would remove curbside parking their customers depend on. Transportation staff said they would work with merchants on loading zones and nearby parking before construction begins.
Disability advocates praised the raised platforms, which allow riders using wheelchairs and walkers to board without ramps, but asked the city to make sure sidewalks leading to stations are repaired before the line opens. Several council members said they would hold staff to that commitment.
Riders weigh in
Outside the chamber after the vote, reactions among riders were mixed but mostly hopeful. A home health aide who said she takes three buses to reach her clients on the north side said shorter waits on Western Avenue would save her nearly an hour a day. A college student who had stayed through the entire meeting said he was disappointed about the tunnel but glad fares would not rise while he was in school.
Advocates with a local riders’ group said they would watch closely to make sure the new lines open on schedule and that promised service levels are met. The transportation committee is expected to receive its first progress report on the Western Avenue project in the spring.
Thanks for explaining this so clearly.
Great reporting — please keep following this story.