new mexico receives federal funding for bus facility projects

More than $3.6 million in funding has been secured from Washington for the construction of a new transit facility that will serve the North Central Regional Transit District in Espanola.

That funding is coming from the Federal Transit Administration arm of the U.D. Department of Transportation, and is one of two grants designed to support transit in New Mexico.

The second grant, for just over $2 million, will be dedicated to rehabilitating a City of Santa Fe transit facility deemed “structurally deficient.”

The rehabilitated structure, called the Southside Transit Center, is located at 2521 Camino Entrada, a block away from the Santa Fe Police Department.

The grants for both the Espanola and Santa Fe projects were awarded through the FTA’s Bus and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program, which is designed to fund the construction of bus-oriented facilities and purchase new buses for states and cities across the country.

In a statement announcing $226 million in such grants nationally, Elaine Chao, Transportation Department Secretary, said, “Every day, working families across America rely on buses, and these grants will ensure that these vital services continue to be both safe and efficient.”
The $2 million for the Santa Fe project will, according to the award announcement, “improve safety, efficiency, and accessibility to transit services in New Mexico’s capital.”

The larger $3.6 million grant will go directly to the New Mexico Department of Transportation for the building of a new maintenance facility in Espanola. That facility will house vehicle maintenance work for the district’s 65 buses.

A separate building in Espanola will be used for washing bays.

The North Central Regional Transit District provides bus transit services to the residents of Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, and Taos, among other stops.

By Garry Boulard