Red Line (The Vine)

The Red Line, also known as The Vine on Mill Plain, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) line in Vancouver, Washington, United States, operated by C-Tran as part of The Vine. The 10 mi route runs from 7th Street at Turtle Place in downtown Vancouver to Mill Plain Transit Center via Mill Plain Boulevard.

Groundbreaking for the Mill Plain BRT project took place on September 28, 2021. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting took place on September 30, 2023, and the line opened for regular service on October 1, 2023. The new line replaced C-Tran Route 37 and features offboard fare payment and near-level boarding.

History
The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council (RTC) completed a two-year planning effort to develop a high-capacity transit system for Vancouver and Clark County in 2008. Its High Capacity Transit System Plan, published in a final report that December, identified Mill Plain Boulevard along with three other corridors—Fourth Plain Boulevard, Highway 99, and Interstate 205—as a viable route for BRT. The report predicted a daily ridership of 8,260 riders and a capital cost of $60 million.

C-Tran, Clark County's transit agency, pursued developing the routes in order of highest ridership and adopted a 20-year plan recommending the first BRT line on Fourth Plain Boulevard. The Fourth Plain route, later branded as The Vine, began operating in January 2017. After Fourth Plain Boulevard, C-Tran determined Mill Plain Boulevard was the next busiest corridor with 767,000 passengers recorded on the Route 37 bus service in 2017. Early design and public outreach for the Mill Plain BRT project began in 2018, and four alignment options were presented. C-Tran approved a locally preferred alternative in March 2019.

In 2021, the project received a $24.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to help pay for the project, including the purchase of eight new buses.

C-Tran broke ground for the Mill Plain BRT project on September 28, 2021, at the parking lot behind the Clark College Columbia Tech Center building, the eventual site of the line's eastern terminus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony at the same site was held on September 30, 2023; regular service on the Red Line began the following day.

Route and stations


The Red Line's western terminus is 7th Street at Turtle Place in downtown Vancouver, where it connects with the Green Line. Between 7th Street and Evergreen Boulevard, buses travel in a one-way pair—southbound on Washington Street and northbound on Broadway Street. The route turns east on Evergreen Boulevard and heads north at Fort Vancouver Way to Mill Plain Boulevard. From Mill Plain Boulevard, the line continues east through to its eastern terminus, Mill Plain Transit Center, near 184th Avenue. The Red Line serves 23 stations.