Bus riders on the University route yesterday gave mixed reactions to plans for a transit corridor that would cut their commuting time in half.

Daryl Innes, a Grade 12 student at Fort Richmond Collegiate, said saving riding time would be a great help to students like him.

But others said they're not sure. Maybell Harms, a retired Health Sciences Centre worker, said she doesn't know for sure if it will make a big difference.

A man who identified himself as John and said he was a federal civil servant, said he has been a regular on the No. 62 bus for 12 years and is tired of hearing about the South Winnipeg corridor, which has been talked about for more than 25 years.

"I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime," John said.

The city has bought several pieces of land across Winnipeg, earmarking them for the proposed rapid transit system.

The plan is to link a downtown Graham Avenue transit mall downtown, now in the works, with four quadrants of the city through exclusive busways or rapid transit corridors.

"We could have had an excellent electrically-powered Light Rail Transit system today at one-third of the price (now pegged at $750 million) if our transportation engineers and city bureaucrats, including Rod McRae and (former chief commissioner) Nick Diakiw, had supported (former mayor) Steve Juba's plan in the 1970's," Coun. Allan Golden (Glenlawn) said.

Golden said for far too long the rapid transit debate was embroiled in petty politics with city engineers pushing for diesel buses while Juba's electrically-powered LRT would have benefitted all citizens.

"I guess we missed the boat on it," Golden said, adding the city now just can't afford an LRT.

According to McRae, civic works commissioner, the proposed rapid corridor would cut riding time on the University route to 15 minutes from 30 minutes.

McRae said a transit corridor is the only way to relieve the pressure on the clogged Pembina Highway.