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The 18,000 people who ride TriMet buses between Portland and Gresham may see their commute become faster, easier and safer with the addition of a bus rapid transit line.

Metro’s Powell-Division Transit and Development Project steering committee wants the public to help shape the design of the new line, Metro spokesman Craig Beebe said, for one of the busiest bus routes in the region.

The regional governing agency is accepting public comments through March 4, Beebe said. Information on proposed routes will be available at an open house starting at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 28 at the Fubonn Shopping Center, in Portland at 2850 S.E. 82nd Ave.

鈥淭he thing about bus rapid transit is that there’s really a whole suite of options,鈥� Beebe said. 鈥淭his is a whole new form of public transportation for the area. It’s not just going to make the buses faster.鈥�

Metro is hoping, with the open house and online public comment option, to collect citizens’ input on project decisions such as where the bus line will cross the Willamette River, where it will transition from Powell Boulevard to Division Street in Southeast Portland, how it will connect to downtown Gresham and whether it will serve Mount Hood Community College.

鈥淭he question is: Can we get to the Gresham Transit Center without backtracking and continue on an appropriate route to Mount Hood Community College,鈥� Metro councilor and project steering committee co-chairman Bob Stacey said. 鈥淭his is a real opportunity to better connect people on an east-west route between Portland and Gresham.鈥�

The steering committee in September 2014 decided to commit to an expansion of bus service instead of light rail. Once that decision was made, the committee started looking at bus rapid transit systems in other cities, including Eugene’s Lane Transit District EmX line, to explore how Portland’s line might look.

鈥淭here is a possibility that in some areas there will be dedicated lanes for rapid transit like in Eugene,鈥� Beebe said. 鈥淥ther areas might have signals that allow the buses to jump ahead of other traffic at stoplights.鈥�

On March 16, the steering committee will consider public input and other factors in making alignment decisions that will move the project forward, Beebe said.

鈥淚 don’t think they’ll make any final decisions, but they’ll be taking some options off the table,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey’ll likely make a Willamette River bridge decision and remove some of the potential transition routes between Powell and Division and in Gresham from further discussion.鈥�

Project planners hope to have the rapid transit line ready for riders by 2020, which means the steering committee needs to move forward quickly.

鈥淭hey want to finalize a lot of decisions by the end of this year,鈥� Beebe said. 鈥淪o we’re on a pretty fast timeline as far as projects of this size go.鈥�

The size of the project has yet to be determined, though Metro has capped the budget at $250 million, Beebe said.

鈥淭he federal funding program the committee is trying to get funding for 鈥� called Small Starts 鈥� caps the project cost at $250 million,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o they’re starting there, but after some of the decisions are made on March 16 they’ll be able to fine-tune the (projected) cost.鈥�

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Starts Program provides grants to cover capital costs associated with new systems, extensions and improvements to bus corridors. The program has $200 million available annually and entertains grant requests for projects costing between $75 million and $250 million, according to the Federal Transit Administration site.

鈥淲hat we’ve heard is that, with the level of work we’ve achieved so far, we’ve probably done enough to enter ourselves into consideration for the federal grant program,鈥� Stacey said. 鈥淯ntil we get into the design process, we won’t know how much the project will cost, but we’re not going to go over that $250 million.鈥�

Over the next several months the steering committee will determine where and how they can increase rider safety while decreasing commute time and traffic congestion, Stacey said.

鈥淭his process is raising a pretty exciting set of questions,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re trying to figure out how much of the benefits of light rail we can get with the bus rapid transit method. It’s something that’s not been done before.鈥�