Federal officials are promoting rapid bus transit as a less expensive alternative to light rail that can boost the number of people using public transportation.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has said bus rapid transit, already in use in cities such as Boston, Los Angeles and Honolulu, "gives communities the best bang for their buck."

Cleveland's new Silver Line will run along the main east-west corridor from downtown's Public Square to University Circle on the far east side.

Passengers will prepay at stations along a dedicated bus-only lane down the middle of the road, and a bus will arrive every five minutes.

The project is part of the nearly $200 million, four-year rebuilding of Euclid Avenue that city leaders see as key to Cleveland's revitalization.

The Federal Transit Administration said bus use on Cleveland's Euclid Avenue could increase by nearly one-third, to 6.4 million passengers a year. Greater Cleveland RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese predicts an even greater boost.

The overall system peaked at 130 million riders in 1980 and now has less than half that.

"Globally, there is a huge interest in bus rapid transit," said Bill Vincent of the independent Washington, D.C., group Breakthrough Technologies Institute, which advocates the concept.

Ridership doubled in Boston and increased by 40 percent in Los Angeles along rapid bus routes. But in Cleveland, where traffic congestion is not so bad as in those cities, commuters may have fewer incentives to choose public transit.