JTA’s new downtown Greyhound Lines bus terminal in LaVilla will open to the public the week of April 17.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new bus station at 1111 W. Forsyth St. is set for this Thursday in advance of the public opening.
It will be one of the city’s most energy-efficient buildings, as JTA is targeting a LEED Silver certification for the bus station. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a rating system devised by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Andy Rodgers, JTA’s program administrator for transit projects, said sustainability has been a big component of the building’s design, which has a floorplan designed using Greyhound’s latest prototype.
“We have all LED lighting, both inside and outside of the building. The glass and the lights are designed together. We have ‘daylight harvesting’ features, so that the lights dim throughout the day based on how much light is coming into the building,” said Rodgers, adding, “the HAVC units, we have use variable refrigerant flow, which is one of the most efficient systems on the market.”
Greyhound Lines and Megabus will operate bus lines out of the new facility, which is owned by JTA.
Amenities include a cafeteria and customer conveniences such as power ports for smartphones and laptops.
Once the Regional Transit Center is completed in 2020, it will house JTA’s headquarters and replace the Rosa Parks Transit Station as the city’s main bus and Skyway transit hub.
The 400,000-square-foot project is being built surrounding the Prime
Osborn Convention Center Skyway Station. It is expected to cost more than $57 million and serve more than 12,500 daily riders once completed.
WJCT’s Carlos Bouvier contributed to the story.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.