New Bus Garage for Fargo-Moorhead Completed
A new garage the cities of Fargo, ND, and Moorhead, MN, will share to store and service their buses is the latest example how bus services can cooperate despite a river, city borders and state lines that might normally prevent them from working together.
 "We have quite a few partnerships with Moorhead," notes Jim Gilmour, director of planning for the City of Fargo. "But this is probably the largest," he says referring to the garage.
The 55,860-square-foot facility was completed late this fall and the Fargo buses rolled through the doors on Nov. 18. They were joined by Moorhead buses on Jan. 1. City mechanics moved in during early December, and the administrative staff moved into the building in January.
The City of Fargo stored its buses in an older garage in north Fargo while Moorhead contracted with a private company to store and service its buses south of that city. The new facility will bring the buses and service under one roof. "The new garage gives us the advantage of sharing maintenance facilities and staff," Gilmour says. The garage has room for 50 buses. The Metro Area Transit currently has a combined fleet of 37.
The Federal Transit Administration provided $5.6 million for the $7 million project through the North Dakota and Minnesota departments of transportation. Fargo spent $933,000 and Moorhead spent $467,000. Construction was completed in 14 months.
Previously the cities had separate contracts with different companies to provide bus drivers, creating a duplication of driver management services. As of January 1, with all buses and operations in a central location, the two cities also began using the same driver services company. The contracts are with Laidlaw Transit Services, which has been providing bus driver services for many years. "We'll have one company supplying drivers and one management team. That will be more efficient and give both cities a bigger pool of drivers," Gilmour says.
This is an approach that could be used with buses in the future. "Right now both cities own their own buses. In the future, we may be able to find a way to share buses. That will cut costs further because we'll need fewer spares," he says.
In the meantime, the garage is a big step forward. "We tried to make the design as energy-efficient as possible while giving us the ability to upgrade in the future," he said.
The garage is heavily insulated and has in-floor heat to help retain and maintain more even temperatures when the large overhead doors open and close frequently. The doors also have rapid openers/closers to minimize the amount of heat lost. Roof water is captured for irrigation of the surrounding landscape and water from the drive-through bus wash bay is recycled.
The roof is reinforced to allow for the installation of solar panels sometime in the future. Waste oil from the buses can be burned to provide supplemental heating, and extra fuel tanks have been installed so alternative blends of biodiesel can be tested and used.
Federal Transit Administration Region 8 Administrator Lee Waddleton visited SURTC in September as part of a tour of transit-related facilities and activities in North Dakota. Waddleton was in North Dakota to meet with Bruce Fuchs of the NDDOT. Fuchs arranged the tour. In Fargo, Waddleton visited MAT facilities and spent time meeting with SURTC staff to learn more about its programs. He has been Region 8 administrator since 2000. Region 8 headquarters is in Denver, CO, and includes the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. It was recently announced that Waddleton will be retiring soon from the FTA. Letitia Thompson will be acting administrator. She is currently administrator in Region 2.
 The 2006 CTAA Community Transportation Rural Transit System of the Year winner was River Cities Public Transit, Pierre, SD. Director Ron Baumgart is on SURTC's advisory board.
The award was presented at CTAA's annual conference in Orlando, FL, in June. At the awards ceremony, Baumgart noted the group effort required to attain such recognition and invited representatives from his Board of Directors, his staff, the South Dakota Department of Transportation, and SURTC on stage to join him in accepting the award. He also acknowledged his agency's appreciation to Easter Seals Project ACTION for their training and technical assistance.
Jim Miller, a retired faculty member from Pennsylvania State University and SURTC affiliate faculty member wrote a letter of support that accompanied River Cities Public Transit's nomination. In the letter, Miller noted, "RCPT's success can be attributed to at least the following three factors: its vision of comprehensive public community transportation services, a coordination model that is open to a wide variety of cooperative arrangements, and strong management and leadership."
Miller continued, "RCPT provides 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week demand responsive transportation to its core service area of Pierre and Ft. Pierre and daily or weekly services to outlying areas. Its evolution from a very limited human service transportation services was born out of a commitment to the local community to take over a failing taxi service, thus preserving the only public transportation in South Dakota's capitol city. While not without frustration and setbacks, RCPT developed the internal organization and operating practices to offer around-the-clock public transportation on demand or with prior reservation. . . If individuals need transportation, RCPT will do everything possible to provide the rides."
FTA recognition
In November River Cities Transit of Pierre, SD, received the 2006 FTA Administrators Award for Outstanding Public Service in Rural Transportation. The award recognizes rural transportation systems that have worked in communities to enhance transportation services to bridge gaps between people and places with partnerships and innovative service strategies that targeted specific gaps and/or unmet needs.
In a letter supporting the nomination for the award, SURTC Director Jill Hough said, "River Cities Transit is an innovative agency which has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to rural public transit. They have worked diligently to provide the communities in which they are located a full range of transportation options that are available 24/7 for people of all ages and abilities."
Carl Rathbun, driver supervisor with River Cities Transit, accepted the award on behalf of the agency at the National Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation Conference in Stevenson, WA.
 On Oct. 5, Francis Ziegler was appointed to serve as director of the NDDOT by North Dakota Governor John Hoeven.
Ziegler has been employed with the NDDOT for the past 36 years and worked on numerous transportation initiatives as well as many major projects around the state, including the new Four Bears Bridge, the Memorial Bridge, and the four-lane expansion of U.S. Highway 2.
"In working with department management over the years on a variety of programs, I understand that transit providers are an important integrated network which provides services throughout the state," Ziegler said.
Ziegler is a native of Zeeland, ND, so he understands the importance of transportation systems in rural areas. Coming from a rural community, he has seen how it is often difficult to provide mobility services, which impacts citizens in these areas.
"Statewide transit providers, the Dakota Transit Association (DTA) and the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center (SURTC) have developed a strong cooperative relationship with NDDOT. I hope to build on that relationship and will encourage my staff to continue open lines of communication," Ziegler said.
Ziegler added, "The NDDOT believes that developing a teamwork philosophy is the best way to get things accomplished. Our partnership with transit providers, DTA and SURTC is an important element of that team."
The director applauds transit providers for the services they've provided and successes accomplished across the state. He noted that during the past few years it has been evident that transit services are an integral part of creating safe transportation.
"Transit providers are a vital component of North Dakota's economy, and we will continue to look for ways to improve services," he said. "I look forward to building partnerships and meeting members at conferences. Please feel free to stop by the NDDOT office and visit at your convenience."
He and his wife, Jan, are residents of Bismarck; they have four children, and seven grandchildren.
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