09-09-04
Contact: Melissa Sabatine
Telephone: (202) 366-4043
Using public transportation in Stark County, OH is about get easier thanks to new grants totaling $1.3 million announced today by Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. The funds, from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), were awarded to the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) to upgrade and improve facilities and travel information for the region’s bus passengers.
“Better bus service is about more than easing commutes and congestion, it is about investing in the very fibers that help hold communities together and bring people and services together,” said Secretary Mineta. “Today we invest in the idea that you don’t have to live among skyscrapers to enjoy world class transit.”
The FTA awarded over $990,000 to help SARTA expand its transit center in Alliance, OH. The improved center will have information kiosks, larger customer service and waiting areas and a new community room. The upgraded center will also have better signs and lighting designed to help commuters after dark. In addition, the bus area will be reconfigured to separate bus loading areas from car drop off areas to move commuters in and out of the center faster.
SARTA will also receive almost $350,000 to modernize its operations facility in Canton. The investment means the center will be able to handle larger buses needed to serve the region. The grant will also fund new sidewalks and parking areas around the facility.
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