PROVIDENCE — RIPTA on Wednesday unveiled proposed designs and a timeline for a new bus passenger facility at the Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center.
The agency is soliciting feedback on the early plans for the facility, which got $5 million in last year’s state budget. The transit center opened in January 2023 as an MBTA stop and a major RIPTA bus route junction, and proved popular with riders: RIPTA recorded nearly 100,000 passenger trips from when it opened to the end of the year.
Now RIPTA is working on providing passengers and staff an indoor space with public restrooms, driver restrooms, a break room, a Pawtucket police substation and security office, an inside waiting room with seating, and customer service. RIPTA held a virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon to get feedback on the plan.
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The Pawtucket-Central Falls bus passenger facility is a separate issue from the Providence bus hub hubbub.
The January meeting kicks off a timeline for the project that includes working on design documents until March; publishing a request for proposals from construction companies in the spring; starting construction in the fall; and completing the building by the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026.
Barry Schiller, a steering committee member of the group RI Transit Riders, said he and his fellow transit advocates were happy with what they heard during Wednesday’s discussion, and glad McKee included $5 million for it in the budget.
“We’re pretty positive about this,” Schiller said.
Here is an early look at the floor plan:
Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him @bamaral44.