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.
