New Transit Center dedicated
A new $5 million University Transit Center and Regional Traveler Information Center was dedicated March 9.
The 16,000-square-foot facility features a spacious vehicle garage, driver-training facility and state-of-the-art operations center for the Regional Traveler Information Center (RTIC). Congressman John Olver helped secure a $3.88 million Federal Transit Administration grant for the project, with the campus funding $1.12 million. UMass Transit Services, which operates the facility, provides bus and van service to eight local communities and the Five Colleges for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA). UMass Transit serves more than 2.6 million passengers per year and its vehicles travel more than 1 million miles annually.
“This facility provides an outstanding place from which to manage our substantial fleet of public transportation vehicles, train our drivers, and provide the public with timely and valuable information about regional travel activity,” said Chancellor Robert Holub. “It serves as an excellent example of academic and service centers on campus working together to address the Commonwealth’s needs.”
In addition to Olver and Holub, attending the dedication ceremony were Trustee Henry Thomas; Paul Shuldiner, director and principal investigator of RTIC; Richard Doyle, regional administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, and Timothy Brennan, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
The Transit Center, located at 255 Governors Drive across from the Mullins Center, was designed by Juster Pope Frazier Architects of Northampton, and the general contractor was Forish Construction Co. of Westfield. Construction took approximately 16 months, beginning in November 2007.
The new facility replaces a 1972 building that was overcrowded and falling into disrepair. It will provide covered parking for special transportation vans that serve special needs students, plus a driver-training center for bus operators. It also will house the RTIC’s 24/7 operations center, provide a computer room for UMass Transit and PVTA equipment, and create much-needed dry storage for documents and large bus parts. An adjacent transit building, erected in 1978, will continue to serve as a garage for PVTA vehicles, maintenance, and dispatch operations.
RTIC provides a variety of services, including traffic information, estimated Route 9 travel times, construction and congestion advisories, regional weather, live webcams on Routes 9 and 116, and regional tourism and event information online at www.MassTraveler.com.
Previously, RTIC was located in cramped quarters, the driver’s lounge of the older transit facility. Now, with expanded capabilities at the new center, officials hope to add services such as Route 2 corridor travel advisories, Sunderland Bridge conditions, I-91 corridor conditions to Springfield, and links to 511, the national traveler information system. Eventually, RTIC is expected to serve as the hub for coordinating and disseminating a broad range of traffic and travel information for all of Western Massachusetts to the public via its Web site, radio spots and other means.
In addition to its direct transportation functions, RTIC also has served as a Civil Engineering research and teaching laboratory for students and faculty, according to Shuldiner, professor emeritus of Civil Engineering and director of RTIC. In the future, the RTIC may allow research on Intelligent Transportation Systems, as well, he says.
John Solem photos
March 9, 2009.
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