Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The Western Reserve Transit Authority has received a $600,104 federal grant to upgrade maintenance bays at its facility at 604 Mahoning Ave.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, announced that the agency will receive the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a federal transportation package.

The improvements will be made to the area where the buses are repaired, he said.

“Mahoning Valley riders rely on Western Reserve Transit Authority to get to work or school and then back home again,” Brown said.

“This investment will help improve the local bus system for these riders and help WRTA deliver more reliable service for Youngstown.”

Brown serves as the ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees DOT’s Federal Transit Administration.

In a June 19 letter to Elaine Chao, DOT secretary, Brown wrote the money “would allow WRTA to bring its maintenance repair bays up to date, replace its bus storage barn, acquire land and build additional parking for buses and add roofing to busy parking stalls to improve passenger access at its main transfer point.”

WRTA recently announced a new fixed-route service that will broaden WRTA’s presence in Trumbull County, and in addition to five or six new lines, it appears it will replace the door-to-door transportation services that have been offered by Trumbull County Transit. WRTA won’t just run the bus lines, but also will pick people up from one place and take them to another. If the person is elderly or disabled, he or she can utilize the door-to-door service no matter where they live. If the person is not elderly or disabled, he or she will be able to use it if the ride originates more than three-forths of a mile away from a fixed route.

The service is expected to begin March 1.

The expanded routes in Trumbull County are not finalized, but the proposed routes include one in downtown Warren, one that would branch out to the Walmart shopping area off Elm Road in Bazetta, the hospitals off East Market Street, the industrialized area known as the Golden Triangle, residential areas off Niles Road in the Draper Street area and routes that travel the area’s southwest side and Parkman Road, Harris said.

Riders also could board a WRTA Warren Express bus and travel U.S. Route 422 from Warren into Youngstown and other destinations in Mahoning County, Harris said.

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