Thursday was a good day to have lunch in a bus garage, and the floors were so clean you could eat off them.
The guests at Luzerne County Transportation Authority's new headquarters in Wilkes-Barre were provided with tables, of course, as LCTA leadership, elected officials, and dozens of guests celebrated the $85.6 million facility's dedication.
"It's a new beginning for us. It's going to make us better than ever, all under one roof," LCTA Executive Director Robert Fiume said.
LCTA's longtime headquarters and fixed-route bus base is on Northampton Street in Kingston, while its shared-ride buses have been stored at a rented county-owned property adjacent to the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort.
When the new 215,034-square-foot facility is fully occupied over the next two weeks, it will allow the transit agency to have all operations — administrative, maintenance, and bus storage — in a central location. It also includes a compressed natural gas fueling site, which the Kingston location lacks.
Fiume said LCTA's Kingston property is being appraised so it can eventually be sold.
LCTA was founded in October 1972 to take over local transit service as part of Hurricane Agnes recovery efforts. The transit agency, which has a fleet of roughly 40 fixed-route buses and 50 smaller, shared-ride vehicles, provides over a million trips each year on a network that covers much of northern Luzerne County, with service as far north as Old Forge and Scranton in Lackawanna County.
The hub of its network is The James F. Conahan Intermodal Transportation Center on South Washington Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre — which is a few blocks away from the new headquarters.
Thursday's ceremony brought dozens of local, county, state and federal officials together to celebrate the completion of a project that kicked off with a groundbreaking in December 2021.
The new bus facility occupies a redeveloped brownfield site on South Pennsylvania Avenue that was, for decades, home to a wire rope factory. In more recent times, the site was used for retail, entertainment and office space. Known as the Murray Complex, the heavily polluted property fell into disuse and was struck by several fires, including a three-alarm fire in 2009.
LCTA acquired the 12-acre property in 2019. Demolition of the Murray Complex's remains began in July 2020.
Fiume said funding for the project came from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (about 60%), the Federal Transit Administration (about 35%) and about 5% from local/county sources.
Stantec was the project architect, Gannett Fleming was the construction manager, and Quandel was the general contractor.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll, who is from Avoca, has been a longtime supporter of the project. The Luzerne County native was not able to attend Thursday's event due to a commitment in Washington, D.C., officials said. PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation Meredith Biggica attended in his place.
“Access to clean, safe, and reliable public transit is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration, and we’re grateful to LCTA for the work they do every day to keep the people of Luzerne County moving safely," Biggica said.
"We’re proud to support this new facility that will help LCTA continue serving this community,” she added.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown said he was pleased that the project would bring 160 new jobs into the city.
"The last five years that I've been mayor, we've built a partnership with LCTA. If I call Bob up, and I ask him for something, he says, 'Mayor, let's work together to get that done.' It might have been a handicapped person that needs a ride to the hospital or to the funeral for their mother — which actually happened — or it might be something else that the city says 'we need your help with this,'" Brown said.
"Bob and his board of directors have always been there for the city. I can't wait to see how this is going to be such a wonderful influence in this area, but also in the city itself."
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo echoed the theme of cooperation, noting how Fiume had pledged to make LCTA's services available to county officials if needed on Election Day.
"Luzerne County works because of people like Bob Fiume, and (LCTA Board Chairman) Charlie Shandra. These are people with a vision," Crocamo said.
"This building not only will serve as a hub for transportation, clean and efficient transportation, but it will serve as a springboard for economic development in Luzerne County."
Other speakers included Luzerne County Council Chairman John Lombardo and Federal Transit Administration Deputy Regional Administrator Tony Tarone.
Fiume closed his remarks on a patriotic, philosophical note.
He hearkened back to July 4 and the Declaration of Independence, with its famed reference to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
"I believe that when we provide a ride to a person who was elderly, someone with a disability, or someone relying on public transportation, we are doing nothing less than making these words come true," Fiume said.
"This new building will help us and our community ensure that this basic human right to have mobility, freedom, independence — and, frankly, dignity — will be available to many generations of Luzerne County residents," he added.
