Selberg unveils Bullhead multimodal transit facility design; staff reports grant reimbursements and planning award

Bullhead Area Transit System Commission members on May 5 heard a presentation from Selberg Associates on proposed plans for a new multimodal transit facility in Bullhead City and received updates from transit staff on recent grant reimbursements and a planning award.

The presentation, led by Rob Sampson of Selberg Associates, described a site on Launice/Longest Way (shown in the project site plan) with a five-bay bus drive aisle, a terminal building, and a separate maintenance building. "We're super excited to be here in front of you today," Sampson said. The terminal design includes a glazed lobby, ticketing and dispatch offices, a staff lounge for drivers, and a multipurpose training/meeting room. The maintenance building design calls for three general service bays, a wash bay and storage mezzanine space.

The design aims to centralize Bullhead transit operations currently scattered across city facilities. Sampson said the layout uses a sawtooth bus bay pattern to keep pedestrians from crossing active drive aisles and to improve safety during bus pull-in and departure. The scheme also includes employee parking, public park-and-ride parking, bicycle parking and space that could be adapted later for electrical charging. The terminal footprint was described as about 4,200 square feet, with a lobby of about 560 square feet; the maintenance footprint was described as about 5,100 square feet (storage mezzanine excluded). The plan incorporates eight portable lifts in the maintenance area and was designed so two buses can be lifted at once.

Commissioners and the city manager asked several detailed questions during the presentation about shade, passenger comfort, and future flexibility. Sampson and project staff said they considered covering all sawtooth bays but left the bays closest to the terminal uncovered to encourage patrons to move into the indoor lobby and to preserve the building identity. "It'd be nice to make the whole thing shaded ... but what we thought is for those that are really close to the building, is it more desirable to sit outside the building, or is it more desirable to sit inside the building?" Sampson said. Commissioners and a public commenter pressed the project team on shade: a caller identified as Scotty said, "We need shade. I have ridden this bus system for years... I don't have a place to sit except on the curb." Project staff also confirmed the design is being made solar-ready so covered parking or canopies could support photovoltaic panels at a later date.

Sampson and project staff noted the facility was designed as an "intermodal" hub with space sized so longer vehicles could be accommodated; they also said Greyhound does not currently serve Bullhead City but the site could support intercity operators in the future. The design includes unisex (single-occupant) restrooms; staff said that was direction from the city and consistent with newer municipal facilities.

In the same meeting, transit staff reported operational and grant updates. Transit staff said the final reimbursement for the agency's 5311 grant was accepted by ADOT and that staff planned to submit the final reimbursement packet the next day. "I just got notification today that our August reimbursement was accepted," the staff member reported. Staff said they are preparing to apply for FTA 5307 apportionment funds and are developing a local Transit Asset Management (TAM) plan and an updated Title VI plan (the Title VI update was scheduled for City Council review the following day). Staff also said the Bullhead City Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) won a 5305(e) planning award of $250,000 for a short-range transit plan; the award covers about 93% of the project with a roughly 7% local match (estimated at $12,000–$13,000) that the MPO expects to meet in part with in-kind contributions. Staff estimated the short-range plan and related RFP process and consultant work would take about a year once procurement is complete.

Staff also reported on service items: ridership showed an expected seasonal uptick through spring, passenger complaints were reported as none for the last quarter, and the volunteer-run senior van service remained suspended because of volunteer shortages; staff said they are recruiting volunteers and hope to resume the senior program in summer when volunteer availability improves.

Votes at a glance: The commission approved the minutes of its Feb. 3, 2020 meeting on a voice vote after a motion and second (no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript). The commission later approved a motion to adjourn by voice vote.

Next steps and timeline from the meeting: project representatives indicated construction documents exist and that the design would move to city council review if commissioners are agreeable. Staff said the Title VI update was scheduled for the next City Council meeting and that the transit agency expects to submit its final 5311 reimbursement imminently, to set up 5307 apportionment application steps in late summer, and to advance the MPO's short-range plan procurement and public outreach over roughly the following year.

Commissioners and members of the public raised passenger comfort (shade) as a key implementation concern that staff and the designer said they would continue to review in later design iterations.