SIDNEY — The City of Sidney’s public transportation program is expanding and gaining in popularity.

With increased use comes more vehicles, which requires a facility to maintain them.

Public Transportation Director Kasey Kantor met with the city council at the January 28 meeting to discuss the possibility of a larger facility to house the vehicles.

"With the transportation needs of the public expanding, the city council has approved additional passenger buses that are starting to arrive. This has created a need for more space to house the fleet. I’m requesting the city council’s permission to rent additional space to help with fleet parking," Kantor said.

He said when the buses were ordered, they were primarily for replacement, with one additional bus to expand the fleet. However, with the program growing, it will now be two to expand and one to replace.

"With the fleet growing, we’ll need additional parking for the buses and drivers. We’ve looked at two possible buildings to help house our growing fleet," he said.

Kantor added that both buildings are a short distance from the existing facility.

Funding for the additional facility will come through the Federal Transportation Administration at a 90-10 ratio, with the City of Sidney responsible for 10% of the cost.

"The square footage has been reviewed by the state, and here’s the big thing: Keep in mind the additional cost will be reimbursed by the state and federal government at 90%. So, with the two buildings we’ve looked at, both are located on or near Main Street, within two blocks of our main building. What I had to do with the state is calculate the square footage, show how much we’d use, and then break down the cost percentages between both buildings. One building came out to 63 cents per square foot. At 90% reimbursement from the federal and state governments, we’d pay just 6.3 cents per square foot to rent these spaces," he said.

Kantor said the council’s decision is step one. From there, he will contact the state, draft a lease agreement, and submit a resolution to the council.

Kantor also noted that total boardings for 2021-22 were about 12,000 riders. The program is now serving about 26,000 riders.