Archive: Around Town

The Board of Directors of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) today unanimously approved the award of bids for reconstruction of the Seneca Street bus shelter. The general contractor for the project will be Streeter Associates, of Elmira, NY. The electrical contractor will be Matco Electric Corporation, of Vestal, NY. The total cost of the new shelter, which is the first phase of TCAT’s City Center Project, is anticipated to be just over $950,000. The shelter will replace the existing waiting area in the City of Ithaca’s Seneca Street parking garage, at the corner of East Seneca and North Tioga Streets. Included in the cost is deconstruction of the existing shelter.

The new waiting area will be ADA accessible and will have lighting, seating, easy-to-read signage, an emergency phone, and battery back-up in case of a power outage. It will also be designed to accept new electronic technology for informing riders of the locations and expected arrival time of buses, when the technology becomes available. TCAT picks up and discharges about 4,000 passengers a day from that corner, underlining the need for a larger, more comfortable, and more visible shelter.

The project includes improvements to the streetscape along the north side of the entire block of Seneca Street occupied by the parking garage. New curbing, sidewalks, plantings, and benches will compliment other recent architectural improvements in the area. Bus and passenger safety will also be improved, and the new stop is expected to function more effectively as a gateway to the Ithaca Commons. The shelter was designed by Rochester-based architects Bergman Associates in response to needs determined by a community client group that met in 2003 and 2004. The design as accepted by the group will be executed with few changes. The shelter features a curving canopy roof and a tall, blue beacon light to help riders find the stop at night.

All but 10 percent of the City Center funding has been provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the NYS Department of Transportation, as well as earmarked funds gained through Congressman Maurice Hinchey’s office. It was hoped that a second shelter, on North Cayuga at West State Street, could be reconstructed as part of the current bid, but that part of the overall project has been put on temporary hold until more funding is available.

Other topics discussed today by the TCAT Board of Directors include a citizens’ advisory group for TCAT that will soon begin recruiting applicants, a report by General Manager Joe Turcotte on increasing costs for parts and maintenance of TCAT’s fleet, and a preliminary look at TCAT’s proposed operations and capital budgets for 2007. TCAT’s passenger revenues, state aid, and federal aid are expected to increase in 2007, allowing TCAT to meet increased ridership and fleet costs and to prevent erosion of its fund balance, building more fiscal stability for the organization.

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