Bay Transit has Groundbreaking Ceremony for Warsaw Transit Facility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lenea England, Division Manager Administration
Bay Transit
Telephone: 804-758-2386, ext 43
Fax: 804-758-5773
lengland@bayaging.org

After years of preparation, Bay Transit, a division of Bay Aging, has broken ground for a new operations and maintenance facility at 111 Commerce Parkway, in the Commerce Park of Warsaw, Virginia. On April 27, 2009, at 10:00 AM, more then 30 community members and officials including US Congressman Rob Wittman, Delegate Albert Pollard, State Senator Richard H. Stuart, Warsaw Town Mayor Wayne Williams, and Chairman of the Richmond County Board of Supervisors Randall W. Packett, Jr. attended a groundbreaking celebration at the building site.  This event marks the start of a project to update Bay Transit’s operational capabilities, a critical step in providing better transportation service and allowing Bay Transit to expand future services.

Designed by MMM Design Group of Norfolk, the new facility is expected to be complete by Spring 2010, with site occupation expected Summer 2010. Warren Flynn Construction Company, Inc. of Fredericksburg is the contractor building the facility. The combined design and construction budget for the Bay Transit maintenance and operations facility is $2,720,327.  Of that cost, $2,487,900 has been awarded in state and federal grants. The remaining 9% is comprised of local match. The almost 11,000 square foot transit facility will include an area for operations and dispatch as well as a fleet maintenance shop consisting of two vehicle bays with lifts.

According to Corey Hill, Chief of Public Transportation at the Virginia Department of Rail and Transportation, the Bay Transit Warsaw Facility is one of fifteen such facilities in the state for which VDRPT has been able to provide funds in the last five years. “Bay Transit is so important to this area of the state because it serves fourteen communities,” he said, “and provides absolutely essential public transportation services.”

In 1996, Bay Transit started its transportation services with one bus serving Gloucester County. Today, Bay Transit offers public transportation services for ALL people of ALL ages for ALL purposes in 12 counties throughout the Middle Peninsula, the Northern Neck, New Kent and Charles City County, plus the towns of West Point and Colonial Beach. The transportation services remain extremely affordable ($8.00 for a booklet of ten tickets) and operate 6 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday primarily as a demand-response system (riders must call 24 hours in advance to schedule their ride). Additionally, Bay Transit runs seasonal trolley service in the towns of Kilmarnock, Irvington, White Stone, Urbanna and Colonial Beach. In 2008, Bay Transit provided 156,000 rides.

Wittman and the other speakers at the groundbreaking wholeheartedly welcomed the presence of the new facility in Warsaw and praised the services provided by Bay Transit.  Those attending all agreed it is occasion for celebration for Bay Transit as well as the town of Warsaw, the surrounding counties and the state of Virginia.

For more information on Bay Transit, please call 804-758-2386 or visit www.baytransit.org.

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