Editor’s note: This story by Jordan Cuddemi was published by the Valley News on Sept. 26.
BRADFORD — Stagecoach Transportation Services is planning a major investment along Interstate 91 to reflect growing ridership in the Bradford area.
Stagecoach, through the Vermont Agency of Transportation, recently was awarded $2.1 million to construct a new bus depot behind the park-and-ride lot near I-91’s Exit 16.
The new satellite base will not only provide a place for Stagecoach workers to perform bus maintenance and for drivers to rest, but also will afford Stagecoach the ability to house more larger buses to accommodate increasing ridership.
“The growth in demand for services over the past 10 years has just pushed us to where our original capacity no longer meets the need,” said Jim Moulton, the executive director of Tri-Valley Transit, which is the umbrella organization for both Stagecoach and Addison County Transit Resources, which merged last year. “We have vehicles that sometimes have standing passengers, which is not the best practice for transit, especially on the highway.”
Preliminary designs call for construction of an 8,000-square-foot, multibay building on the land behind the park and ride. Randolph-based Stagecoach hopes to break ground on the project in spring 2020, as there still is preliminary work to be done, including site and design plans and permitting, Moulton said.
Currently, Stagecoach, which serves all of Orange County and part of northern Windsor County, operates out of a location near Farm-Way off Route 25, leasing space from the Bradford Community Development Corp. That spot is too small to meet Stagecoach’s needs, Moulton said.
Over the years, thanks to increased ridership, Stagecoach has purchased larger buses that don’t fit in the facility. Being able to house the buses in the new facility will expand the life of the vehicles, he said.
Currently, Stagecoach operates six buses out of the Bradford site.
“We can project growth for up to 10 buses over the next five to 10 years,” he said.
A popular route from Bradford is the “the River Route,” which takes commuters and other passengers to Dartmouth College, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and other major employers in the Hanover-Lebanon area. There currently are about 18,000 riders a year on that route, which is up from 12,000 to 14,000 riders five years ago, Moulton said.
The main Stagecoach facility in Randolph is roughly 40 miles from Bradford, which makes it difficult for workers to perform timely and convenient maintenance and get rest if need be, according to a project description from the state Agency of Transportation, which is the fiscal agent for the funding.
The new building in Bradford also will have a wash bay and will be able to accommodate office space for the growing operation, Moulton said.
The total cost is projected at $2.6 million, 80 percent of which will be federally funded. Tri-Valley Transit will pay the $520,000 local match.
The Stagecoach award was just one of many the Federal Transit Administration announced on Tuesday. A total of 107 projects in 50 states received funding, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Bradford project was the only one in Vermont to receive funding.
In New Hampshire, the Manchester Transit Authority received just shy of $1 million to replace buses for its fleet to help improve transit service throughout the city.
Bradford Selectboard Chairman Ted Unkles said he didn’t know much about the project, but was happy to learn that Stagecoach would be expanding in the area. He likened the park and ride in Bradford to “Grand Central Station,” saying the buses that bring people from the Bradford area south to Lebanon and Hanover often are at maximum capacity.
“There is no question that there is absolutely a need for expanded public transit up and down the Connecticut River Valley,” Unkles said.
