NCRTD awarded $9.2 million in grants to complete upgrades to HQ building
The North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) Blue Bus 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 (FTA) for transit agencies to buy and rehabilitate buses and vans and build and modernize bus facilities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides nearly $2 billion through 2026 for the program. For FY 2024, approximately $390 million was available for grants under the program. The funding, provided through competitive grants, was the result of a consolidated application between NCRTD and New Mexico Department of Transportaion (DOT). The federal funding is issued to the New Mexico DOT and distributed to NCRTD.
“This announcement comes on the heels of the FTA’s recent RAISE Grant of $9.5 million for the District, bringing a total $18.7 million for funding the two projects with no local match requirement,” Mortillaro said. “We’re thankful for the efforts of our legislative delegation, the FTA and the New Mexico DOT for their ongoing support of 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.
"Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are creating new opportunities to improve the lives of millions of Americans who rely daily on buses," said FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool.
