The city's transit union says it has won a special license to run a dollar van service in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Prospect Heights, Park Slope and downtown Brooklyn.

This comes after the union's fierce opposition to the city's plan to expand private van service in neighborhoods affected by the MTA bus cuts. The Transport Workers Union Local 100 represents 500 bus drivers and mechanics who were laid off because of the service cuts.

The TWU's lawyer, Arthur Schwartz, says as the union fights the city plan in court, it also decided to submit a proposal to operate a van line.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has been soliciting applications from van companies to operate along five now defunct bus routes in Brooklyn and Queens. This pilot program, the TLC says, is intended to give the nearly 7,000 riders of those bus routes another transportation option.

Schwartz says the union met with TLC officials Tuesday to discuss its proposal for the old B71 bus route. The TWU plans to run vans every 15 minutes during morning and evening rush hours, every 30 minutes during off-peak hours and will charge riders $1. They will hire laid-off MTA bus drivers, who will earn union wages of about $25 an hour, with benefits.

The TWU doesn't have to turn a profit in this venture because it created a not-for-profit organization to manage the new van service. But the union will have to break even to make this service financially sustainable. "A lot of the viability is going to depend on how many people we attract to ride on the vans and how many people return to that as a means of transportation," Schwartz says.

TLC Commisser David Yassky says the agency hasn't finalized agreements with any of the van operators yet, but that TWU's proposal was "strong" and he would "love to have transit worker level service" as part of the new program.