A grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will continue a three-phase project for the Ames Transit facility, improving the operation of CyRide buses.

Because of the efforts of Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, the DOT will give $574,324 to CyRide to purchase four new buses and build more garage space for bus storage.

“For the entire country, only $607 million was awarded for bus and bus facilities programs,” said Bob Bourne, director of CyRide.

Ames will receive a total of $1 million from the initiative, Bourne said, and the rest of the money will be given to Ames Transit at a later date.

The bus maintenance will help CyRide accommodate its almost 5 million passengers, Bourne said. During the past two to three years, the number of CyRide passengers has increased by 65 percent, although he believes it has leveled off.

Mayor Ted Tedesco said Ames has a very unique system that has been recognized because of the different organizations cooperating together to have one efficient system.

Iowa City’s bus systems, for example, have three separate systems for the city, he said.

Tedesco said maintaining CyRide buses also helps the community because it creates less wear and tear on the roads, affecting taxes for citizens and contributing to clean air.

The first phase of the project — installing new fuel tanks in the new service lane where buses are washed and swept at night and checked for oil — has already taken place, Bourne said.

The second phase includes building an addition to the building for more bus storage and making some internal improvements to already existing garages, Bourne said.

A third and final step, Bourne said, is building a new office area and more shop areas where mechanics can work on the buses.

Bourne said the steps will progress at the rate that the money comes. It could take up to approximately 10 years for everything to be complete.

The process of receiving money for improvements first requires a request from the transit facility, said James Carstensen, communications director for Latham.

“The case was made very well for the need for this funding,” Carstensen said.

“What we did was invite [Latham] to our garage to show him what we need and to show him the buses were packed in real tight,” Bourne said.

The proposal for money was then presented to a subcommittee, Carstensen said. After approved there, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved the money request. Finally, the bill was sent to the House of Representatives, Carstensen said.

Carstensen said once approved in the House, the Senate went through a similar process and approved it before it went into effect.

“Tom worked very hard last year to get funding and will continue to get federal contribution to continue to fund this project,” Carstensen said.

He said Latham has already requested an additional $2 million that is in the works for the 2005 fiscal year.

Bourne said an architect is working on the design work, and CyRide hopes to bid out the project by the end of summer so a contractor can start building the new garages by September.