The Portland region is expanding its already crowded stable of transit options.

Regional agencies are moving ahead with plans to build "bus rapid transit" lines, which carry passengers in super-sized buses that act more like light-rail trains.

With rapid transit buses, passengers pay for their fare in advance and can board from multiple doors, eliminating a wait at the fare box. Boarding-level platforms and ramps speed boarding for riders with disabilities. Plus, the buses get priority treatment at traffic lights.

Portland planners have settled on the new approach to connect Portland and Gresham along Southeast Powell Boulevard and Division Street.

But the area's first rapid transit bus project, a $53 million route dubbed "The Vine," is already under construction in Vancouver.

"Ours is actually the first in the region," said Scott Patterson, director of development and public affairs for C-Tran, the transit agency that serves Clark County. "It's kind of a badge of honor for us."

That project will connect the city's downtown with the Westfield Vancouver mall along the city's busy Fourth Plain thoroughfare. The Federal Transit administration is picking up 80 percent of the project's cost, with a state grant covering 6 percent and C-Tran paying the remaining 14 percent.

In both Portland and Vancouver, officials have latched on to bus rapid transit as a cheaper, less invasive alternative to light rail, but still bring relief to the most congested bus lines.

In its purist form, bus rapid transit includes dedicated lanes so the buses -- like light rail -- can bypass traffic jams. The Emerald Express, a bus rapid transit line built in 1997 in Eugene, operates mostly in bus-only lanes.

Neither The Vine in Vancouver nor the contemplated system along Powell and Division would include long stretches of dedicated right-of-way. In Vancouver, Patterson said the added cost to do so would have been tens of millions of dollars. In Portland, it likely would be much higher because of the cost of buying land.

But Dennis Hinebaugh, the director of the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute at the University of South Florida, said that's not the secret sauce that makes bus rapid transit work. Heinebaugh served on an advisory board for The Vine back when it was contemplated as part of the abandoned Columbia River Crossing project.

"You can do so much reliability improvement without having the exclusive" right-of-way, Hinebaugh said. "And the amount of money saved, you can put back into the line, extend the line and improve the service."

Instead, both systems will give buses priority at traffic signals. At stations, the buses will get an early green light to "jump the queue," passing other lined up at a red light.

In Vancouver, the biggest cost savings will come from faster boarding, Patterson said. The Vine will save six to eight minutes on each trip compared with the existing bus service. Another two minutes will be shaved off by avoiding the wait at traffic signals, and the project will relocate the stop at the mall to be closer to the route.

And the 60-foot-long buses can carry as many as 100 passengers. The time savings, plus the bigger buses, mean fewer need to be in service at any given time, thereby saving about $878,000 a year in operating costs.

"All those things start to add up," he said.

There is one challenge with bus rapid transit: convincing potential riders that it's not just a bus.

Most major transit projects are intended to attract new riders, most of whom aren't transit dependent. Those riders might prefer to drive than take the bus -- but they might be willing to take light rail or more comfortable buses, the theory goes.

For that reason, the Federal Transit Administration requires bus rapid transit lines it helps fund to develop their own branding.

"It's about making it cool to take the bus," said Chris Selk, C-Tran's public affairs manager.

In Portland, a steering committee is still deciding on the route the project would take and where it would stop. It's expected to cost between $150 million and $250 million, and while funding sources haven't been identified, planners are eyeing a federal grant to cover up to $75 million of the cost.

The line will run parallel to the MAX Red, Green and Blue lines, but they'll connect the so-called Innovation Quadrant -- the area around Oregon Health & Science University, Portland State University and OMSI -- to the Portland Community College Southeast campus and on to Mount Hood Community College.

Along the way, it will serve the busiest transit corridor currently served by regular buses.

"It's a great place to start if you're trying to test a new model like this," said Metro Councilor Bob Stacey, who co-chaired the steering committee for the project. "You have an existing transit ridership that's very strong. You can succeed even if you never attract another rider."

Building rail along route would require buying and tearing up buildings, dramatically altering the character of the neighborhood.

And rail would likely take years. Alan Lehto, TriMet's director of planning and policy, said he was a new planner at the agency in 2000, when it was considering what kind of service to use for the project would become the Orange Line when it opened this year.

Those decisions are being made now for the Powell-Division corridor. It's expected to open as soon as 2020.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus