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| Alvarado Transportation Center Receives Federal Funds |
March 07, 2003 |
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Wilson Helps Provide For Buses and Depot Construction
Albuquerque, NM - Congresswoman Heather Wilson joined Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez today at the Alvarado Transportation Center in Albuquerque to announce federal funds for new city buses and a planned depot. Albuquerque’s mass transit system employs close to 600 people and provides daily transportation to more than 25,000 people.
Congresswoman Heather Wilson secured $1 million for new buses and $300,000 for a new depot that will be added onto the south-end of the existing facility. The funding came in the 2003 Federal funding bill passed in Congress last month and subsequently signed by President George W. Bush.
“Thousands of people rely each day on our city’s mass transit system to get to work or school,” says Wilson. “So it’s incumbent upon us to provide the best mass transportation we can. With this federal support, Albuquerque will replace some out-dated buses and will have some seed money to start construction of this new depot facility to hopefully consolidate our town’s bus companies.”
“The Alvarado Transportation Center is the focal point of transportation in the Downtown,” says Chavez. “Not only does this facility support Downtown revitalization but it is also an integral component of the String of Pearls. The new buses will improve service quality for transit riders. In these trying times, a viable transit system is both a local and national benefit.”
“There was tremendous pressure on Congress to curtail domestic spending, so the fact we were able to gain funding for the Alvarado project and for Albuquerque bus services is great. I believe the Alvarado center is at the symbolic heart of the push to renew the downtown area. Congresswoman Wilson was important for shoring up House support for this funding,” said Domenici, the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to serve directly on an appropriations committee.
Albuquerque has a fixed route bus fleet of 136 vehicles, and Federal Transit Administration guidelines typically call for mass transit vehicles to be replaced every 12 years. The city plans to leverage the federal money with local dollars to replace 10 aging vehicles, in service now for 14 years. New buses will meet stricter EPA emissions criteria and will also be outfitted with a device that will automatically announce upcoming intersections and major landmarks. The device, which works through a Global Positioning Satellite System, is meant to provide access for disabled people.
The City also plans to construct a new depot south of the existing Alvarado building, where Amtrak is currently located. The depot, Phase II of the Alvarado project, will serve as a base of operations for Greyhound, which has already signed a use-agreement with the City of Albuquerque. The City hopes to entice other interstate motorcoach operators to use the location for their operations.
“Mass-transit serves as a safety net for people who have to get to work and have trouble finding reliable transportation on their own,” said Wilson. “It’s important that we have a reliable system people can count on when they need to get to work.”
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