Congresswoman Corrine Brown, a senior Member of the House Transportation Committee, is thrilled to announce a $15 million Department of Transportation grant for the city of Gainesville’s Regional Transit System. The Gainesville project was selected on a competitive basis through the FY 2012 State of Good Repair Program. The Regional Transit System (RTS) will utilize these funds to complete Phase II of the Gainesville Multimodal Maintenance Expansion, a facility which is being expanded to accommodate the growth of the RTS fleet that has taken place since the construction of the original maintenance facility.
With respect to the grant, Congresswoman Brown made the following statement:
“Gainesville’s Regional Transit System (RTS), which has a strong partnership with the University of Florida, provides bus service to an extremely diverse group of riders. And with these funds, the new facility improvements will be able to help house and service rolling stock in a more efficient manner, which will greatly assist in extending the life of the fleet. Completing Phase II construction will expand the current maintenance facility, and better prepare the city for future growth by expanding current service routes, as well as the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), both of which will be able to greatly increase service to the Gainesville community.
I worked diligently in assisting to secure funding for Phase I of the expansion in the last Surface Reauthorization bill and to begin Phase II construction, and am pleased to see these efforts come to fruition today. Beyond a doubt, Transportation funding is a win-win, since it benefits our economy by creating quality jobs while simultaneously improving our nation’s infrastructure.”