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BATA Transit Center Grand Opening Ushers in New Era in Public Transportation

Free bus rides on July 21

TRAVERSE CITY, MI (July 14, 2006)— The Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) is celebrating the opening of its new Transit Center on Hall Street in downtown Traverse City with a grand opening event on Friday, July 21. The public is invited to ride the bus for free all day on the 21st, and free ride tokens, prize drawings, hot dogs and refreshments will be offered at the Transit Center from Noon – 3:00 p.m.

The new BATA Transit Center signals a new era in public transportation. The attractive hub facility makes possible expanded bus service with scheduled stops throughout the Grand Traverse area – including service to and from Leelanau County. The Transit Center has clean restrooms, comfortable seating and is staffed during service hours. Free wireless Internet access will soon be available. Long distance commercial bus service has scheduled arrivals and departures at the Transit Center.

“This facility represents a giant step forward in addressing the need for viable public transportation in our area,” said BATA Executive Director Joe DeKoning. “Having a permanent transfer point greatly expands our capacity to deliver dependable, comfortable and convenient service.” DeKoning added that with the Transit Center now in place, BATA would be more aggressive in convincing people to use the bus system. “With the price of gas at $3 per gallon, you can get where you’re going a lot less expensively on BATA, and you don’t have to deal with traffic and parking.”

The $1.2 million Transit Center was made possible through funding from state and federal transportation department sources. The 3,500 square foot building houses a spacious waiting area, restrooms, ticket sales counter and dispatch area. Outside are eleven covered bus stalls protecting riders from the elements when transferring between busses. Clark, Walter and Sirrine Architects designed the building using a “greebuilt” approach based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria.

The LEED Green Building Rating system evaluates environmental performance from a whole building perspective over a building’s life cycle, providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a “green building.” The rating system is organized into five environmental categories:

Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. An additional category, Innovation and Design Process, addresses
sustainable building expertise as well as design measures not covered under the five environmental categories.

The majority of contractors and suppliers for the project were local companies including Clark Walter Sirrine and the project’s general contractor, Grand Traverse Construction.

For more information about BATA including route and schedule information, visit www.bata.net.

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