Federal funds released for new bus transfer facility

The federal funding, which Bond helped secure, is part of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s fiscal 2006 spending bill.

The new facility would take the place of the current downtown facility, located on Park Central West. That facility suffers from traffic congestion, access problems, redevelopment on both sides and land-locked issues, according to a Bond news release.

“This funding comes at a time when we are seeing record numbers in ridership, and we expect that trend to continue,” City Utilities of Springfield General Manager John Twitty said in the release. CU operates the city’s transit system.

The new facility will have a passenger waiting area, loading stations for buses entering and exiting the facility and office space for local transportation staff.

See SBJ’s Sept. 24 issue for more on the new CU bus transfer facility.