Birmingham City Council approves $18 million for BRT project

Aug. 26, 2021

The funds are part of the city’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan and will help offset the project's pandemic-induced cost increase.

Mischa Wanek-Libman

A Birmingham Xpress branding bus on display at a July event.

The city council in Birmingham, Ala., approved $18 million for the Birmingham Xpress bus rapid transit (BRT) project. The funds are part of the city’s $140-million allocation from the American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law in March 2021.

The Birmingham Xpress BRT, which broke ground in December 2020, is Alabama’s first bus rapid transit line and will connect 25 neighborhoods to opportunities and vital services along a 10-mile corridor between Five Points West and Woodlawn in the city.

The project is fully funded through a partnership between the city and the Federal Transit Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation. The city says the $18 million approved from the American Rescue Plan funds will address overages created by an increase in construction costs due to the pandemic, as well as deadlines connected to the bus rapid transit project.

The Birmingham Xpress route is set to open in 2022 and will replace Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority MAX services that currently operate along the corridor. The project includes new low or no-emission buses, low-floor level boarding and headways of 15 minutes during peak service and 30 minute headways during weekends and non-peak hours.

About the Author

Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.

She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.

She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.