Butler Transit Authority Moving Forward on Transit Center...First LEED Certified Transit Center in PA

Wednesday, 06 May 2009 11:39

Butler, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced Wednesday, May 6th, that the But‐ ler Transit Authority’s (BTA) Transit Center is among the transit projects in Pennsylvania funded in part with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

BTA was placed on Penn DOT’s “wish list” of transit projects in January 2009. The transit authority will receive $5,340,569 to complete phase I of its Transit Center. The Butler Transit Authority would like to thank Governor Ed Rendell and Penn DOT for their investment in the Authority with the American Re‐ covery and Reinvestment Act funds. BTA thanks the Butler County Commissioners and local elected officials from Butler City and Butler Township for their continued support for this project.

Located in Butler’s Pullman Center Redevelopment area, BTA’s Transit Center will begin construction in the fall of 2009. Phase I of the facility will consist of a 7,000 square foot office building, a maintenance and wash bay building as well as a storage area for the Authority’s buses and Butler County’s Butler Area Rural Transit (BART) shared ride buses. Phase II of the facility will encompass the enclosure of the storage area, construction of a wait area for interconnectivity with local transit and planned commuter service and park n ride.

The Butler Transit Authority is pleased to announce that its facility will be the first transit center in the state of Pennsylvania to be LEED certified. According to the US Green Building Council, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a third‐party certification program and the nation‐ ally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green build‐ ings. BTA’s center will receive a Silver LEED Certification for use of geothermal heating and cooling as well as other energy conservation and environmental friendly principals.

The transit center will be a tremendous asset to the Authority and Butler Community. The transit center design will reduce the Authority’s future operating costs by 20‐25%. The green building principals will reduce energy costs by 50%.

Butler Transit Authority is excited to be part of another infrastructure improvement for Butler County. For up‐to‐date information on this project and others please visit us on the web at www.butlertransitauthority.com.