ART finally in gear

It’s two years late, diesel instead of electric, and turquoise with murals instead of gray with a red, white and blue logo. It was the subject of a lawsuit between the city and a Chinabased company. It’s been called a lemon by the current mayor and a business killer by Central Avenue merchants.

And it officially starts taking passengers the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s the ART — Albuquerque Rapid Transit — bus line along Central from Tramway to Unser, and time will tell if it’s a turkey or the legacy project former Mayor Richard Berry fast-tracked in his last weeks in office.

Described by Berry as “one of the best designed transit projects in America,” the $133 million ART was plagued with delays and problems right after Berry took the inaugural ride during the 2017 River of Lights. Mayor Tim Keller took office days later and has called it a “lemon” almost every time it’s come up in interviews. But last week he said ART is “something that eventually our city is going to be very proud of.”

How long that “eventually” takes remains to be seen. ART is modeled after Cleveland Healthline, and Keller notes there “it took 10 years for basically drivers to finally understand it.” Factor in N.M. drivers’ reputation and multiply accordingly. Drivers in training are trying out the routes. To help speed things along, the city will roll out advertising and message boards to help motorists safely co-exist with the bright articulated buses, their center-median stations and bus-only lanes. Police will give warnings until January (then tickets start).

With rides free for the rest of the year, and service starting on Small Business Saturday, it’s a great chance to hop on board, support local businesses and see for yourself if all the controversy was worth it.