$23 million grant will upgrade Columbia transit facilities
A roughly $23 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded to the City of Columbia Wednesday will address city transit system, GoCoMo, facility improvements.
Columbia Public Works applied for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant early in 2023. The grant award for the city's transit facilities is separate from a RAISE grant application authorized by the Columbia City Council in February to fund a safety study on the business loop, wrote John Ogan, public works spokesperson in an email to the Tribune.
"This new grant requires no local match and is 100 percent federally funded," he wrote about the funds received by public works.
The February grant application by the city includes funding match commitments by the city and The Loop Community Improvement District of $500,000 and $30,000, respectively.
The $23 million RAISE grant received by the city is one of 162 infrastructure projects awarded from a $2.2 billion pot of the discretionary grant program.
"Using the funds in President (Joe) Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a news release. “This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain and more.”
Other communities in Missouri receiving grant funds included Warsaw, Kansas City and Maryville.
How the funds are used
The $23 million was awarded to remodel the transit maintenance and parking facility, the addition of an upgraded time point located at the planned opportunity campus, and upgraded bus stops along current routes.
The transit maintenance and parking facility is the Grissum Building on Lakeview Avenue.
"What we would like is enough physical space to be able to house all of our buses, as well as the ability to charge all of our electric buses at the same time," Ogan wrote about the planned upgrades. "We will be obtaining six more electric buses in the near future and we require additional space and equipment to store and charge them."
A time point is related to bus scheduling and operator routes matching those schedules, Ogan wrote. It also relates to bus stop amenities.
"(A time point) represents a significant bus stop where the vehicle's arrival is expected to align closely with the schedule, distinguishing it from stops where arrival times may vary," he wrote, adding upgraded amenities can include a shelter, a bench, a trash can or improved lighting. "The opportunity campus hasn't been built, but the grant funds are able to be used through 2027, so we have approximately four years to plan and implement our changes."
Upgraded bus stops includes the addition of bus shelters, which require easements or property owner permission for them, Ogan wrote.
Grant funds cannot go toward hiring staff, for salaries, to purchase buses or for operating costs, he added.
"The funds are strictly for upgrading transit facilities," he wrote.
GoCoMo does not plan on going after a Multimodal Discretionary Project Grant also announced this week as it is for larger scale public works projects that require a significant local match, Ogan wrote.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: $23 million grant will upgrade bus stops, Grissum Building
