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The Emerald Express (EmX) is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It is provided by the Lane Transit District (LTD) which is the public transit authority in Lane County, Oregon. LTD chose bus rapid transit after a review process in which several transportation options, including light rail, were considered. It was decided that the BRT option was the best fit for Eugene-Springfield's size and current transportation needs. The first route, named the Green Line, was opened in early 2007, connecting downtown Springfield to downtown Eugene. There are ten stops along the route, including the University of Oregon. Less than a year later, ridership had doubled in the corridor, and the city of Eugene was nominated for the 2008 Sustainable Transportation Award, and received an honorable mention.〔("London, Paris Edge Out Guatemala City, Guatemala; Eugene, Oregon; and Pereira, Colombia for 2008 Sustainable Transport Award" ), by Environmental Defense staff, Reuters News Service, Jan. 14, 2008〕 An extension was opened on January 9, 2011, connecting EmX to the Gateway Mall as well as Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend and International Way.〔()〕 ==Description== The EmX system is made up of sections of dedicated bus lanes for most of the route (60%), with normal roads in between. The vehicles are given signal priority via ground-loop signaling to the traffic control system, with special traffic signals at intersections. The vehicles have two sets of doors on the left and three on the right, allowing loading from platforms on either side. Most of the right hand side platforms can only accommodate the rear two doors. Riding the Emerald Express was free when it began operations, but now costs regular fare. The vehicles are equipped with continuously variable transmission which allows for quick but smooth acceleration from stops and through the various road segments. On weekdays, service runs approximately from 6:00am to 11:00pm. Buses arrive every 10 minutes throughout the day, with longer headways during the evening and the first hour of the morning. More limited service operates during the weekend.〔(101 "EmX Green Line" (schedule) ), ''ltd.org'', retrieved 6-29-09〕 In the first month of operation buses had trouble with the signal priority system; buses had to achieve careful positioning to communicate with the signaling loop, and light priority was not always immediate. Early tests of the system caused the light control systems to crash when signal priority was requested, resulting in blinking reds in all directions until an engineer could reset the terminal. LTD worked with the control software vendor to iron out the bugs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Emerald Express」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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