Sun Tran in Tucson, AZ, joined the city of Tucson to celebrate the opening of its Northwest Bus Facility with ceremonies Jan. 26. The 25-acre facility will store and maintain the agency’s expanding fleet of buses while allowing the continued expansion of transit service in the region.

“The completion of this facility represents a major milestone for our community,” said Kate Riley, Sun Tran general manager. “This state-of-the-art complex was built in three phases to accommodate the growing need for transit options in our region.”

The Northwest Bus Facility now has the capacity to operate and maintain 250 buses for the entire Tucson region. Although the $56 million facility is complete, Sun Tran will continue to operate approximately one-third of the service from its previous location.

Sun Tran began construction at the site in 2005 with an access road and the city’s fueling facility, funded through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and city bonds. The $29 million second phase, completed in 2009 and funded through FTA and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), included construction of the operations building and a portion of the maintenance facility. This phase, built to accommodate operation of up to 150 buses, included 17 bus bays to repair and maintain the fleet, a fare retrieval area, bus wash, and dispatch center.

The third and final phase incorporated expansion of the maintenance building, a new administration building for regional transit operations, and additional bus parking. It received $16 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment funds and $3 million from the RTA. The peak month of final phase construction resulted in the creation of 186 local full-time jobs.