Funding Approved for Smith County Multimodal Facility
Posted/updated on: July 1, 2011 at 5:28 pm
TYLER — The Texas Transportation Commission has awarded $120,000 to the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority to go towards the Smith County Multimodal Facility. NET RMA Chairman Jeff Austin III stated, “We appreciate being able to work with TxDOT and Smith County in this partnership and value the hard work of Mr. Jamal Moharer, Chairman of the East Texas Coordinated Regional Transportation Planning Steering Committee (ETCRTPSC) to take another critical step toward allowing this to become a reality.”
NET RMA applied for this funding through a broad partnership to undertake preparatory and planning activities for a Multi-Modal Facility (MMF) transit hub in Tyler. Partners include the Smith County Commissioners Court and its Smith County Transportation Advisory Committee; the Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization; the City of Tyler; Tyler Transit; NDMJ, Ltd.; Greyhound Bus Lines; the East Texas Council of Governments; and ETCRTPSC.
Austin said, “To fund the ultimate project, the Legislature has given RMA’s new tools to work with the Counties in the area of project delivery including Design/Build and Design/Build/Finance to find the most cost effective and efficient manner to construct and fund the project. This is a great model to centralize multimodal facilities in a County and can be a model for other counties/cities to consider.”
According to a news release, the MMF will consolidate and focus several transportation elements at a single site and allow for increased connectivity for residents of Smith County and the East Texas region to access other areas of Texas and the nation. Officials say available transit services at the MMF will include Greyhound and Kerrville Bus Lines (intercity bus) and charter bus service, transportation to Amtrak train stops in the region, Tyler Transit, a park and ride lot, and demand-response rural transit services. “This was the reason that RMA’s were established — to partner to find transportation and mobility solutions for our region,” said Austin.
