TAHOE CITY, Calif. – The recently opened Tahoe City Transit Center, an intermodal hub for visitor and resident public transit on the West and North Shores of Lake Tahoe, was named the Overall Winner of the 2012 Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Awards. The Center makes use of two of the area’s predominant materials, Sierra ledge stone and western red cedar.

The Center opened for business last October and is a “park and ride” facility for Tahoe Area Regional Transit (TART) passengers. The Center is located at 165 West Lake Blvd. in Tahoe City, near Highway 89 and just south of the “Y.”

The Center features six bus bays, a 1,100-square-foot terminal with an indoor, heated waiting area with restrooms and a covered outdoor waiting area with bench seating. The Center has 130 on-site parking spaces, plus several enclosed bike lockers and traditional bike racks. The Center covers about 2.5 acres adjacent to hiking and bike paths for easier mobility around the north and west shores of Lake Tahoe.

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A high-tech display system, known as Nextbus, has been installed on the TART bus system and is available to the public. A display system inside the Transit Center informs passengers on bus arrival times. The system provides online real-time locations of on-route buses and predicted arrival times at all stops on all routes. The information can be accessed via text messaging or Smartphone web access at http://www.nextbus.com/homepage/

The Transit Center is part of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Environmental Improvement Project program to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality, which in turn will benefit lake clarity. The project is also consistent with numerous agency transportation plans, community plans, and studies. It is a $4.5 million construction project funded largely by federal and state transportation grants along with Placer County Transient Occupancy Tax funds.

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The facility was designed by WRNS Studio and constructed by Gilbane Construction. It is being managed by the Placer County Department of Public Works.

For more information about the award and the Transit Center visit http://construction.com/community/WRCLA2012/.

To access bus schedules, visit htpp://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Works/Transit/TART.aspx.