San Bernardino, CA, March 13, 2014 – Ground has broken on a transportation project in San Bernardino that will benefit commuters using the Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority. Formerly known as “MARTA,” the local bus service company now goes by the nickname “Mountain Transit.” Its off-the-mountain service currently drops off patrons at the historic Santa Fe Depot. Once the new San Bernardino Transit Center is constructed at Rialto Avenue and “E” Street downtown, Big Bear bus riders will have more options to travel around the Inland Empire.
The Transit Center will be a multi-modal transportation hub where local bus services like Mountain Transit, Omnitrans bus routes, the sbX Bus Rapid Transit service and Metrolink trains will converge. The public can transfer from one mode of transportation to another at this hub and go in various directions.
The Transit Center will also make life easier for college students, since it’s being built just two blocks from San Bernardino Valley College. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2015.
The Santa Fe depot is currently the end of the line for the Metrolink commuter train service, but service will be extended one mile east to to the new transit center by the summer of 2016, and eventually nine miles further to via the future Redlands Passenger Rail Project.
Patrick Morris, who is both Metrolink Chairman and City of San Bernardino Mayor says that making connections between different modes of transportation like this enhances the benefits to current transit users and makes them more attractive to future users.
