Golden Empire Transit teams with Stantec for the new facility to improve pedestrian and bus movement at California State University- Bakersfield’s campus.
by METRO Staff
April 16, 2021
The new transit center, which opened on April 10, is designed to improve pedestrian and bus movement and facilitate easier transfers between bus lines.
Credit:
Golden Empire Transit
1 min to read
California’s Golden Empire Transit (GET) recently celebrated the opening of its expanded transit center at California State University- Bakersfield (CSUB), marked by a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The transit agency has been working with Stantec’s Los Angeles office, which provided architecture, lighting design, and landscape architecture services for the project, in addition to Provost & Pritchard Engineers, which provided civil engineering support for the project.
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The new bus transit center, which opened for service on April 10, is designed to improve pedestrian and bus movement and facilitate easier transfers between bus lines. The facility, which will house six bus bays along the campus’ West Don Hart Drive, will include bus shelters, seating, lighting, signage, and a bike-share location.
In addition to providing better accessibility for students and faculty, non-students will be able to use the bus transit center to access CSUB for community events. The new location also serves as a central transit hub for GET patrons to transfer from one bus line to another, providing better access to Southwest Bakersfield.
Watch a video of the virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony below.
The region’s fixed-route system finished out the year with a total of 373.5 million rides. Adding 12.3 million rides over 2024 represents an increase that is equal to the annual transit ridership of Kansas City.
The service is a flexible, reservation-based transit service designed to close the first- and last-mile gaps and connect riders to employment for just $5 per day.
The upgraded system, which went live earlier this month, supports METRO’s METRONow vision to enhance the customer experience, improve service reliability, and strengthen long-term regional mobility.
The agreement provides competitive wages and reflects strong labor-management collaboration, positive working relationships, and a shared commitment to building a world-class transit system for the community, said RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins.
The priorities are outlined in the 2026 Board and CEO Initiatives and Action Plan, which serves as a roadmap to guide the agency’s work throughout the year and ensure continued progress and accountability on voter-approved transportation investments and essential mobility services.