ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — CDTA launched the new purple line, a rapid transit bus route running from UAlbany’s campus to Crossgates Mall and Downtown Albany. The new route is part of a 10-year-long effort by CDTA and Senator Chuck Schumer to expand transportation options in the area.

“We set a vision,” Carm Basile, CDTA CEO, said. “40 miles of bus rapid transit in the Capital Region. It’s the only place in Upstate New York where this is happening and today, we’ve achieved that goal with the implementation of the purple line, we now have 40 miles of bus rapid transit in the Capital Region.” 

The purple line will connect to other rapid transit lines in the region. The project cost $81 Million with the federal government, Federal Transit Administration, New York State Department of Transportation and CDTA contributing.

“This is what we wanted to do,” Schumer said. “A blue line connecting Albany to Troy and beyond, a red line connecting Albany to Schenectady, and now the purple line which connects the center of Downtown Albany to lots of the outlying places.” 

Schumer said the new route will provide easy access to growing job opportunities in the region and connect students to the economic centers of the Capital Region.

“When you build transit, the whole region grows economically because people can get more places, spend more dollars, move more easily,” Schumer said.