Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

Riders will be able to experience the Ogden Express (OGX) bus rapid transit (BRT) line in just about a month’s time. Until then, though, work continues fixing up stations, familiarizing drivers and determining how long it will take to get from one stop to another.

James Larson, senior internal communications manager with the Utah Transit Authority, told the Standard-Examiner that the route has entered the testing phase.

“When we go through the testing, especially the first phases, we’re driving through the road conditions, we’re driving into the station and then we’re testing out the signal priorities to see if it’s working at the different lights,” he said. “The way that works is if a light is yellow, we can actually keep that light yellow for a little bit longer which allows us to progress through that light.”

Additionally, Larson said they’re looking at other factors — such as timing sequences — in order to properly schedule the BRT service, how much electricity the buses expend over the course of the route and training operators on the route itself.

Larson said testing began last week, but buses began traveling the route more frequently this week and will continue to run until the route opens to the general public.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

He noted that, in some locations, it may even appear the buses are traveling the wrong direction in their designated bus lanes.

“We want to see every scenario we’re going to be running into,” he said. “One of the areas where we really have to get our timing down is at 36th Street. The buses actually cross to get to the station and then cross back out again. We just need to get our timing and that’s why at 36th Street it looks like the bus is facing the wrong direction at that station. It’s just the way the buses pick up on the side of the bus. We have to pivot those so we can pick up (passengers) and then pull back out to drop them off.”

Crews are also using the next month to complete the stations themselves, by finishing up wiring, lighting and concrete work. Some of the most notable work though, Larson said, is on installing artwork into the brand new stations.

“There’s 22 separate art pieces that are being put up throughout the stations,” he said. “We looked at every type of alternative: Do we want windscreens? Do we want metal screens? Do we want etchings on the metal screens? Do we want to go with glass? We probably spent three months just looking at every alternative with the Ogden City Arts Council and ogden City. We came to the conclusion that we wanted to have the art pieces look like painted glass.”

He said the art pieces utilize laminated glass and that 13 artists were utilized for the project.

“The artists are some of the best artists I’ve ever seen,” Larsons aid. “We’ve got a nice mixture. We’ve got everything from illustrations to photographs to New York-style-type drawings.”

As the route’s physical pieces fall into place and testing continues, some important dates are on the horizon for the OGX.

“Our next big date is going to be August 2 from 10 to (noon) out in front of Skinny Dogz in The Junction,” he said. “We’re going to be holding our ribbon cutting.”

The OGX service will open to the public on Aug. 20. Larson said the public’s patience with the project has been appreciated.

“We want to celebrate with the whole community,” he said. “We understand for three years we’ve been  doing construction and we appreciate everyone’s patience through all the delays and detours on 23rd, 25th, Washington and Harrison Boulevard.”

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