On Oct. 11, City Council awarded the construction contract to Aquicon Construction Co Ltd. Construction of the facility began last month. As part of the construction, temporary baseball diamonds established on the site have been removed and sports groups using the site have been relocated to other City facilities. All lights and bleachers on the site have been safely removed and will be stored by the City of Brampton and then reused at a City sports field.

The new Brampton Transit Sandalwood Facility will support the operation of 200 12.2 metre (40-foot) buses. It will include a maintenance garage with 11 hoists and a state-of-the-art control centre to manage new transit technologies. Plans include an expanded customer service call centre to meet the demands of the increasing number of calls.

When complete, the Brampton Transit Sandalwood Facility will contain noise-reduction measures to ensure the City of Brampton continues to be a good neighbour. A key measure is a building designed to minimize noise impacts on the surrounding residential properties.

Any diesel-related emissions will be mitigated by the City of Brampton to ensure the City's commitment to clean air continues. Computer model testing undertaken by the construction manager for the new facility indicates that the Brampton Transit Sandalwood Facility, when complete, will meet all Ministry of the Environment air emission standards.

Brampton Transit currently operates a fleet of 190 transit vehicles from a facility that has capacity for 150 vehicles, which is resulting in operational challenges. As the City continues to grow, transit ridership is increasing at a level that is approximately five times the national average.

"Last month, Brampton Transit broke its previous record for monthly ridership, carrying nearly 967,000 passengers, a 14 per cent increase over October of 2005," said Sue Bass, Director of Brampton Transit."And we are confident Brampton Transit will break the 10 million mark for ridership in 2006. This growth is causing extreme pressure for transit service increases to be planned and implemented at regular intervals."

The year-to-date average for ridership growth is 12 per cent. In 2005, Brampton Transit increased service by 25 per cent using a grid-based route system. This year, Brampton Transit increased service by another 10 per cent. For the first time, transit routes had frequencies of less than 10 minutes, providing residents with more frequent service and better connections between routes.

When the new Sandalwood facility is complete, Brampton Transit headquarters will continue to operate from 185 Clark Blvd. For information about the new Brampton Transit Sandalwood Facility, visit www.brampton.ca/transit or call 905-874-2750.