ALBANY COUNTY — Senator Charles Schumer was in town on Monday to trumpet the start of the Purple Bus Line, which runs from the Albany bus terminal to Crossgates Mall in Guilderland.

The Capital District Transit Authority calls it a BusPlus, its version of Bus Rapid Transit or BRT, meaning the buses make limited stops and provide amenities like Wi-Fi and charging ports. The line uses 60-foot long, articulated, or hinged, buses.

The Purple Line makes a dozen stops including at the Capitol, the library at Lark Street, The College of Saint Rose, the downtown and uptown campuses of UAlbany, the Harriman Campus, and Crossgates Commons.

The Purple Line will run fare free for the first two weeks of operation, from Sunday, Nov. 5, through Sunday, Nov. 19. BusPlus fares will be $2 per ride for cash customers, while Navigator smart card or mobile app customers pay $1.30 per ride.

The Purple Line joins an already established 17-mile Red Line, on Route 5, running between Albany and Schenectady, and 15-mile Blue Line, running along the Hudson River, connecting Albany, Cohoes, Menands, Troy, Waterford, and Watervliet.

The CDTA says the BRT service is faster and the buses arrive regularly throughout the day.

“The launch of our Purple Line completes a system that now covers over 40 miles of BRT service that produces more than 60% of the Region’s transit trips,” says the CDTA website, “accounting for roughly 8 million annual boardings.”

A decade ago, Schumer, the Senate’s majority leader, began pushing for funding for the BusPlus lines, securing over $60 million, allocated by the Federal Transit Administration, to make the Purple Line possible.

The rest of the funding was made up with about $11 million from the state’s Department of Transportation and about $9 million from the CDTA, according to a 2020 release from Schumer’s office.

Schumer said at the time that the Purple Line would stimulate economic activity, providing access to shopping centers and local businesses as well as being a boon to college students without cars and also said it would solve problems of traffic congestion and limited parking.

“Ten years ago, I stood with Carm Basile at The College of St. Rose,” Schumer said of the chief executive officer of the CDTA in a release on Monday, the day of his visit, “and committed to building on the success of the BusPlus Red Line, with a vision for a 40-mile network of bus rapid transit in the Capital Region. After years of relentless advocacy, the BusPlus Purple Line has finally arrived for Capital Region commuters, and completes that vision!

“I’m thrilled to see that after delivering nearly $115 million in federal investment to help CDTA realize this dream, Albany riders will now have fast, accessible, and affordable access to destinations across the Capital Region.”

 “The Purple Line completes a network of Bus Rapid Transit lines that connect people along some of the most densely populated and heavily traveled corridors in the Capital Region,” said Basile in the same release.

“UAlbany students, faculty, and staff are already the largest users of CDTA, and the launch of the Purple Line is another major milestone in improving the accessibility and sustainability of our campuses,” said University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez in the release.

“The Purple Line is not only our favorite color but seamlessly connects our Downtown Campus, ETEC [Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex] building, Uptown Campus and the Albany NanoTech Complex with faster and more convenient service.

“Better service,” Rodríguez went on, “makes public transit even more appealing and helps reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. I’m also thrilled that the newly completed CDTA Busway along Alumni Drive adds to the pedestrian infrastructure that already makes our uptown campus a beacon for walkers and cyclists.”

The United States Department of Transportation did research that showed transportation accounts for 29 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions — well more than residential, commercial, and agricultural gas emissions combined. It is second only to the greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power industry, at 33 percent.

And, of the emissions caused by transportation, cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks make up the majority — at 57 percent. Freight trucks account for 20 percent and airlines for 12 percent.

“National averages demonstrate that public transportation produces significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile than private vehicles,” the report says. It also says car transportation alone accounts for 47 percent of the carbon footprint of a typical American family with two cars — by far the largest source of household emissions.

“Switching to riding public transportation is one of the most effective actions individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint,” the report says.