Los Angeles County Metro Orange Line map---------------------------------NABI 60BRT

Travelers wanting or needing to get from Universal City in Los Angeles to Woodland Hills in Los Angeles (or to selected locations between these points) will soon have a new option for doing so, one that doesn't involve sitting motionless in their cars for long periods of time on the Ventura (101) Freeway.

Starting in "late October or early November," 2005, they will be able to take the Orange Line, the newest branch of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail System from, essentially, one end of the San Fernando Valley to the other in comfort, speed, and safety, riding the latest CNG (compressed natural gas)-fueled, articulated "super-buses" from leading bus manufacturer North American Bus Industries, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Budapest, Hungary-based North American Bus Industries, RT.

For almost its entire distance, the Orange Line buses will travel on a dedicated busway reserved solely for these vehicles. A bicycle path will run parallel to the busway.

You can take a look at the route of the Orange Line, and see where it will make its stops, by clicking here.

Modern Transportation World spoke today with Roger Dames, Deputy Executive Officer and Orange Line project manager at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the organization responsible for designing, building, and operating the Orange Line and the rest of the Metro Rail system, about that target date and about other significant aspects of this advanced vehicular transportation system.

You can listen to that conversation by clicking < here.

For more about the Orange Line, click here.

To listen to an earlier (February 9, 2005) Modern Transportation World audio interview with MTA Deputy Executive Officer Roger Dames, click here.

In that earlier interview, Roger Dames talks about the role of the Orange Line in the overall Metro Rail system; its cost; the environmental clean-up that accompanied its construction; how it will operate; the bicycle path that will run alongside of it; and the benefits it will provide for its passengers.

You can also listen to February 9, 2005 Modern Transportation World audio interview with Cliff Henke, Director of External Relations and spokesperson for North American Bus Industries, Inc., the Woodland Hills-based, ISO 9001-compliant company that is building 200 CNG (compressed natural gas)-powered, articulated, NABI 60BRT (60 foot-long Bus Rapid Transit) vehicles at a cost of $633,000 each, by clicking here.

In that interview, Cliff Henke talks about the aesthetic design of the buses; their horsepower; the amenities they will offer passengers, including the possible presence of Wi-Fi-based broadband Internet connectivity; details about its operations, including information about the bellows that connects its front and rear units, the use of CNG to fuel it, and the radio systems that will allow it to prioritize its passage through intersections; and how this "third-generation" bus may be followed by a "fourth-generation" version featuring a hybrid-diesel or hybrid-CNG propulsion system.

To access a well-written and thorough article, "Building a $330 Million Busway in the San Fernando Valley," a July, 2004, feature story by Greg Aragon on McGraw-Hill's California Construction web site, click here.

Additional, related, and useful information about Los Angeles County's modern transportation system can be found on the Metro Rail Destinations and experienceLA web sites.