California-based Omnitrans awarded the E Street Corridor sbX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line construction contract — the first BRT corridor of a system-wide plan to increase public transit mobility for San Bernardino Valley residents.

The construction team will be a joint venture between Griffith Co., a general contractor, and Comet Electric Inc., which had the lowest bid of $64,700,603.05 and met all requirements as a responsible bidder. The bid is approximately 18 percent below original engineer estimates.

The total cost of the project is estimated at nearly $192 million, including design and engineering work already completed, 14 BRT vehicles on order and planned maintenance facility upgrades.

More than 80 percent comes from federal sources, approximately 8 percent from the state, and 10 percent from local, of which 3.7 percent is in-kind through permit fee waivers.

The Griffith/Comet Joint Venture, both Southern California based companies, and its dozens of subcontractors will be tasked with construction of the 15.7-mile route from northern San Bernardino to Loma Linda with 5.2 miles of dedicated lanes, 16 station locations and four park-and- ride facilities.

Key stops will include California State University San Bernardino, San Bernardino High School, downtown San Bernardino along E Street, Inland Center Mall, the Hospitality Lane business area, Loma Linda University and Medical Center, and the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center.

Construction services include roadway, guideway, paving, striping, curb and gutter, sidewalk, utility-relocation, and landscaping. Work also includes building station-platforms, park-and-ride facilities, and installation of traffic-signal-priority systems, public art, ticket vending machines, bus benches and other infrastructure.

Construction is due to begin in the fall of this year, with completion in the fourth quarter of 2013. Passenger service is scheduled for early 2014.