Although a development council received a federal grant for more than $600,000 to purchase shelters for bus passengers at UTRGV, the money cannot be used due to the government shutdown.
“We’re kind of waiting to see what’s going to happen with Congress and the president, so that we can move forward with this project,” said Gabriel Zuñiga, director of Transportation Services at UTRGV.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC), which is the regional transit provider in the Valley, received the grant from the U.S. Transportation Department Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program.
Aside from purchasing bus shelters, the grant will be used to provide amenities for the Brownsville, Edinburg and Harlingen campuses.
The amenities include:
–protection from weather conditions
–seating, trash receptacles, bike racks and landscaping at bus stops
–and information signage.
The shelters would be located at the current Campus Connector shuttle stops on the Edinburg and Harlingen campuses.
For the Brownsville campus, a pedestrian study is being conducted to determine where the shelter would be located.
The “shelters have a footprint of about 75 square feet on average,” Rodney Gomez, executive director for UTRGV Parking and Transportation Services, stated in a Jan. 14 news release.
“The new, large shelters will have a footprint of about 550 square feet,” Gomez stated in the news release.
The shelters will allow greater numbers of passengers to be protected from weather conditions while waiting for shuttles to arrive, officials said.
Jonathan Barrera, a studio art junior, said the bus shelters could encourage students to take the shuttles.
“Especially, like, on rainy days, like, when there’s bad weather or something, [students] would like to take the shuttles even more,” Barrera said.
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas), who announced the grant on Sept. 25, 2018, said the funds will provide essential funding to regional transit services in South Texas.
“The new waiting areas will allow the bus system to attract new riders and provide improved service to existing passengers. I look forward to seeing the project completed,” Vela stated in the university news release.
The Rider requested an interview with Vela, but as of press time Thursday, he was unavailable.
For more information on Parking and Transportation, visit utrgv.edu/parking-and-transportation-services/.
