Blue Bus Awarded $9.2 Million in Federal and State Grants for Headquarters Expansion

The North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) Blue Bus this week announced it has been awarded a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities program. Together with a $1.8 million matching grant from the State of New Mexico, a total of $9.2 million is now available for the District to implement the second and final phase of its plan to improve its Jim West Regional Transit Center headquarters and operations facility in Española.

“These grants mark a funding key milestone in the District’s Long-Range Plan to better serve communities across north central New Mexico,” said Anthony Mortillaro, NCRTD Executive Director. “It will allow us to expand and remodel our headquarters that we’ve outgrown with improved facilities for our drivers and additional office space for our administrative and support staff.”

The Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities program provides federal funding through the Federal Transit Administration for transit agencies to buy and rehabilitate buses and vans and build and modernize bus facilities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides nearly $2 billion through 2026 for the program. For Fiscal Year 2024, approximately $390 million was available for grants under this program. The funding, provided through competitive grants, was the result of a consolidated application between the District and New Mexico Department of Transportaion. The federal funding is issued to the New Mexico Department of Transportation and distributed to the District.

Remodeling efforts for phase one of the Jim West headquarters building are anticipated to commence by September 2024, with a remodeling of a former maintenance bay into office space including break rooms and support facilities for drivers. The total project cost inclusive of both phases is estimated to be $11.7 million.