HOLLISTER
At the board meeting this morning, Supervisor Anthony Botelho confirmed that the Council of San Benito County Governments will use federal stimulus dollars to buy four new buses instead of two as noted by COG officials earlier. He added that along with buses, the funds will go toward work on bus-stop shelters.
COG’s Local Transit Authority Transportation Planner Betty LiOwen noted at the meeting that along with three city buses, another smaller bus and an additional minivan will be purchased to be used by Jovenes de Antano, a local nonprofit that works with senior citizens.
San Benito County transportation officials have slated $374,000 of the $1.2 million headed to the area from the federal stimulus package toward the purchase of new buses for transit routes to replace two others with high mileage. Part of the funding will also go toward paratransit operating costs, bus-stop shelters, preventative maintenance and information technology upgrades at the dispatch facility, LiOwen said.
The total cost of the four buses and the minivan is $302,000, while the remainder will go toward the other projects.
At the meeting, Botelho also said that he thinks there been unfair criticism given to the San Benito Council of Governments regarding the purchase of the buses.
