HUNTINGTON BEACH : Bus Transportation Center Is Opened
Grand opening ceremonies were held Thursday for the Golden West Transportation Center near Golden West College and the Huntington Beach Mall.
Service at the facility, which has an atrium-like design, is expected to start in about two weeks, said John Standiford, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.
Equipped with 10 bus bays, news racks, restrooms and park-and-ride spaces for 124 cars, the transit center will be served by 11 OCTA bus lines.
“The Golden West Transportation Center will help our current bus riders and will convince people who have never ridden the bus before to give it a try,” said Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, an OCTA board member. “The center will also give employees and students near Golden West College a better option for commuting.”
Wieder was one of several officials who addressed about 50 people at the transit center, one of several regional bus depots built by OCTA in recent years. Others are in Newport Center, Laguna Hills and Santa Ana.
The Huntington Beach facility has a troubled history. Delayed for years because of a developer’s financial collapse and a series of design changes, the facility was once supposed to include single-room occupancy housing for the poor or senior citizens until residents of the area mounted strong opposition.
Residents argued that such housing near their homes would reduce their property values and increase crime and traffic congestion.
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