Project Description
Project Overview
This project includes the expansion and improvement of the GBT’s administration and maintenance facility located at One Cross Street, Bridgeport Connecticut. The current facility, completed in 1987, houses all of the administrative, bus maintenance and bus storage activities of the GBT. The project will provide additional space for vehicle maintenance and indoor storage along with additional training, operations and administrative space to accommodate agency growth. Repairs are also being made to the existing facility.
The project is a Bus Related Facility Project, which provides facility expansion and improvements for operational and safety purposes. Initially incorporated in SAFETY-LU as an authorization for $2,418,000, this project appears as SAFETY-LU projects 44 and 478. In general, the project will include:
- Expanded storage for fixed route vehicles
- Expanded vehicle maintenance facility
- Storage for paratransit vehicles
- Additional administrative offices
- Training facility
- Storage and utility space
- Site plan improvements including parking
- Roof construction/repair (existing facility)
Project Need
- Facility, built in 1987, has reached capacity
- Site circulation causes employees to cross bus traffic lanes
- Maintenance facilities cannot handle any increase in the number of vehicles
- Personal parking cannot handle any increase in employee numbers
- There is only one vehicle access point to the site
- Communication systems need updating
- All storage areas are at capacity
Project Purpose
- Accommodate GBT projected growth in service and the employees and equipment to support this growth for the next 20 years.
- Improve efficiency of employee tasks
- Enhance employee safety
- Incorporate or replace projected capital costs for maintaining the existing facility
- Improve energy efficiency
- Improve employee working conditions
Alternatives
- Do nothing (no-build)
- Purchase additional property
- Select an alternate site
Project Details
GBT provides public transportation fixed route and paratransit services to Bridgeport, CT and the Bridgeport region. GBT has experienced growth in its ridership and is anticipating growth in its bus fleet. The Design Team of Wendel Duchscherer and Clough Harbour Associates has been retained by GBT to design facility improvements to meet current needs and future growth.
GBT is located in a facility that was built in 1987. Since that time, GBT has outgrown its current facility and nearly outgrown its site. While services are operated in an efficient manner today, the facilities are beyond capacity and are hindering further operations and growth which, in turn, will make it impossible for GBT to provide critically needed public transportation services to the region as development continues and no new roadway capacity is added.
The FEIP design creates a “separation of uses by fleet type” for safety and efficiency of operations. The current administration portion of the campus will be removed and a new two-story administration/operations building will be built. This building will be elevated to the level of a new parking deck which allows bus circulation underneath at the ground level. This also provides a new street presence for GBT. The new elevated parking deck will provide increased employee parking, a safe route from the parking to the administration and operations areas, and provide the roof for the additional paratransit bus storage and new service lanes.
The current bus fleet is stored indoors, which is typical of facilities in similar (New England) weather conditions. The expanded bus fleet will require this interior bus storage area to increase, while maintaining the proximity to the maintenance area which is ideal.
The size of the maintenance area and the number of maintenance work bays are directly proportional to the size of the bus fleet, so increasing the number of buses will necessitate an increase in the size of the maintenance area and the number of work bays. Internal bus circulation will be provided which:
- Reduces the number of overhead doors, thus reducing maintenance costs for doors
- Reduces the heat loss as buses circulate throughout the facility
- Improves employee comfort since working conditions will be more stable
- Will enable employees to circulate throughout the facility without subjecting themselves to the exterior elements
The expanded facility will not only accommodate future growth of buses and staff, but will make GBT a leader in sustainable design in the Bridgeport community. Sustainable design reduces negative impacts on the environment and on the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainable design are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
Proposed sustainable design items will provide:
- On-site power generation through photovoltaics
- A vegetative roof (aka “green roof”) to reduce water runoff, extend the life of the roof covering and provide non-potable water for irrigation and use in the building
- A water reclamation system in the vehicle wash
Landscaping areas are limited since the entire site at ground level will be used for vehicle circulation and building footprints. The limited landscaping areas and planters used on the parking deck near the offices will be irrigated with non-potable water from the vegetative roof.
The design of the mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems are an important part of energy saving design and will be designed to achieve a Silver rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system from the US Green Building Council, incorporating LEED principals which provide efficient and responsible choices for GBT and the City.
The facility will improve upon what is currently an asset for the City of Bridgeport and become an example for other maintenance facility designs. The following systems are currently adequate to support the proposed new and renovated facility:
- Existing water service
- Existing sanitary sewer service
- Existing storm water service
- Existing natural gas service
In order to keep GBT operational during construction and to meet an accelerated schedule, phasing is very important. Phase 1, will enlarge and reorganize the maintenance building to provide additional and more efficient maintenance work areas along with enhanced employee work and break areas. An 8,000 s.f. addition to the administration building will allow the administration and operations employees to function more efficiently. Limited site work will be necessary to accommodate the above expansions and to enhance the safety of the entire project.
Phase 2 will provide additional personal vehicle parking, new service lanes, an additional maintenance work bay capable of handling an articulated bus, additional interior paratransit parking and a second, emergency only, bus exit from the site. This work will build on the work completed in Phase 1.
Project Progression/Phasing
Throughout the entire design and construction process, the continued operation of the service is the top priority. Phasing of construction activities will be dependent on the GBT service requirements.
The existing maintenance building will have significant additions to allow for more interior circulation for all fixed route buses, as well as a connection to the operations level. A new paint/body shop will be built at the eastern edge of the site and enclosed as part of the bus storage area for maximum flexibility, ease of use, and adherence to environmental codes.
Administration and operations will move to a new, three-story structure at the pivot point at the geographic center of the site. This structure will consist of: an elevated vehicle parking deck; a one-story operations area; and a one-story administration area as the third Level. The new elevated parking deck will provide increased employee parking, serve as a platform for the new operations and administration levels and provide a safe route from employee parking to the administration and operations areas. The area under the employee parking level (ground level) will allow for paratransit vehicle parking, a new service lane and an emergency access ramp from grade up to Cross Street for all revenue vehicles. Thus the parking deck will be serving multiple uses. Service Lane workers will have an efficient pattern for picking up, servicing, and parking vehicles.
Maintaining the existing maintenance building is important, since it remains a very serviceable building, albeit too constrained. The existing maintenance building will have significant additions to allow for more interior circulation for all fixed route buses to increase energy efficiency and employee comfort, as well as a connection to the operations level. A new paint/body shop will be built at the eastern edge of the site and enclosed as part of the bus storage area for maximum flexibility and ease of use.
Opportunities to provide site improvements are very limited, since the existing and proposed buildings will occupy nearly all the site; therefore, much of the design involves structural solutions related to storm water, green roofs and other structured landscape solutions:
- To incorporate ornamental landscaping, the FEIP will provide planters in the corners of the parking deck, since there is very limited ability to provide green spaces in the vicinity of the administration building.
- Rain gardens in the limited landscaped areas will not only reduce use of potable water for irrigation, but also assist in efforts to reduce storm water quantity.
- To further reduce storm water quantity (runoff), improve storm water quality, and provide cooling of the site and buildings, the buildings will have “green” (vegetative) roofs.
- The vegetative roof will also extend the life of roofing materials by at least two times, (i.e. a 25-year roofing will be expected to perform for 50-years).
- Captured rainwater will be used to irrigate landscaping.
- Careful design of site lighting and use of “Dark Sky” compliant exterior light standards will reduce energy. The intent is to maintain safe lighting levels while minimizing off-site light spillage and night sky light pollution. The existing design includes parking and outdoor lighting that are light pollution reducing. Fixtures selected will be down lighting and light cut off style fixtures.
- On-site renewable energy sources, (solar generated), will reduce the facility electrical utility load with possible net metering capability.
- Lighting controls to minimize unnecessary lighting will be included. This can be accomplished in many ways, typically through the building automation system and occupant sensing controls. Strategies include minimal general lighting with enhanced task lighting. Table 1 details the facility pre and post construction:
Facility Space |
Square Footage |
Square Footage |
Administration and Operations
|
9,800 | 24,000 |
Fixed Route Garage |
72,000 | 153,000 |
Paratransit Storage (Outdoors) |
21,600 | 23,400 (Covered and Protected) |
Service Lanes
|
6,500 | 14,700 |
| Paint and Body | 2,300 | 5,000 |
| Parking (automobile) | 37,000 (on grade) | 60,000 |
| Total | 150,300 | 280,100 |
| Total Conditioned | 91,700 | 220,100 |
Geo-spatial Information and Connections with Existing Transportation Infrastructure
The location of the Facility Expansion and Improvement Project is One Cross Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut. The property and all adjacent properties are zoned for Industrial Use. The facility as it stands today was constructed in 1987.
The current GBT service area encompasses a 155 square mile area of southwestern Connecticut in Fairfield County (population 904,000). The core of the service area is the City of Bridgeport (population 145,000) with services extending east to Milford, west to Westport and Norwalk and north to Shelton and Derby Connecticut.
The services currently provided by GBT are an integral part of the mobility infrastructure in the highly congested I-95 corridor of Southwestern Connecticut. GBT bus routes connect to six rail stations (Milford, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Southport and Derby) and GBT services will need to expand to accommodate ridership demand associated with a seventh new rail station in Fairfield, Connecticut. Service is also provided to the Bridgeport/Port Jefferson Ferry which operates across Long Island Sound. All GBT services pulse from the Downtown Bridgeport Intermodal Transportation Center, which includes direct connections to Amtrak N.E. Corridor, Metro North New Haven Line trains and the Bridgeport/Port Jefferson Ferry.
Meeting the Needs of the Bridgeport Urban Area and the Challenges the Project Aims to Address
GBT plays an integral part in local and regional land use decisions. GBT is actively involved in two major initiatives in the City of Bridgeport, including the Downtown Plan Task Force (DPTF) and the City’s Sustainability Plan. The DPTF is overseeing the implementation of the Downtown Master Plan (DMP) which envisions a dense, pedestrian-friendly, active and vibrant Downtown. One recommendation of the DMP is the creation of a Parking Authority. GBT has received support for broadening the scope of the Parking Authority to go beyond the traditional purpose of managing the supply of parking to also managing (i.e. reducing) the demand for parking and become a full fledged mobility manager of the central city, coordinating car sharing, universal or eco pass programs, parking pricing and shared use lots and transit services and pedestrian amenities.
The Bridgeport Sustainability Plan aims to make Bridgeport the greenest city in New England. GBT’s CEO co-chairs the transportation and land use working group, which aims to develop strategies to significantly reduce VMT to reduce greenhouse gases, reduce energy consumption and improve air quality while, at the same time, removing barriers to development. It is noteworthy that between 15% and 20% of previously developed land in Bridgeport is vacant, providing opportunity for dense infill that is the antidote for sprawl. Among the recommendations being developed is for the City to adopt a “Transit First” policy with several specific recommendations on how to make such a policy effective in reducing VMT at the same time that new development is generating more trips.
This project is an essential part of continued economic and Transit Oriented Development efforts in Bridgeport and throughout the region, since more than 20% of the land in Bridgeport is available for development or redevelopment and there are numerous large infill projects now in planning phases that are dependent on increased public transportation, including new residential units and the $1.5 billion “Steel Point” Development. These new developments, and the City’s efforts to reduce parking requirements and encourage transit oriented development, will depend heavily on the provision of new bus services which cannot occur without an expanded fleet and the requisite facilities. Further, beyond the ability to meet the growing transit needs in Bridgeport, service expansion is needed in several growing corridors radiating through the region including the Route 8 Corridor into Connecticut’s Central Naugatuck Valley and the Route 25 Corridor connecting the Bridgeport region with central and northern Fairfield County.This project aims to meet the mobility needs of the region by creating the capacity for growth in public bus services to meet these aforementioned needs.
