After almost 20 years in the making, Torrance’s new transit center has arrived.
The City of Torrance on Friday held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center, which will serve as the future southern terminus for Metro C-Line light rail and greatly enhance the city’s access to the greater Los Angeles region.
“This is the state-of-the-art, 21st century. It’s even more than just a transit center,” said Torrance Mayor George Chen in an interview shortly before the grand opening. “If you come here, you could double this as both a transit center and an entertainment spot.”
The new transit center, located at 465 Crenshaw Boulevard, will make transportation more convenient for the entire South Bay to major hubs, including LAX, the mayor said.
Funding for the facility came from a combination of grants from federal, state and local levels. LA Metro and the South Bay Cities Council of Government provided $25.7 million for its construction. Most of that money came from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax measure county voters approved in 2008.
The state’s Department of Transportation and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services provided another $2.5 million and $115,740 towards construction and security measures such as electronic door locks and security cameras.
Additional funding was made possible by former Rep. Jane Harman, the state’s Low Carbon Transit Operations Program and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
In addition, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Inglewood, helped secure $6.28 million from the Federal Buses and Bus Facilities Grant Funds to purchase all-electric buses that will operate from the new facility.
It will be fully operational on Sunday, June 11, said Torrance’s Transit Manager James Lee. In addition to providing LA Metro services, the facility houses eight bus bases with six routes that will connect riders from Torrance to multiple transit systems in the region, including…
Read the full article here
