By: Diane Benjamin
To get the whole picture, readers have to combine the video and the meeting documentation about the downtown transfer station: PDF page 29 https://connect-transit.com/file/3878/2025%2010%2028_Meeting%20Packet.pdf
Once Connect Transit found out the old Pantagraph building wouldn’t work for the downtown transit center, this happened:
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Bloomington has wanted to get rid of the Market Street garage for years because maintenance is too expensive. At this week’s board meeting David Braun stated the federal grant would disappear if they tried to move to another site now. The opinion of bus drivers is immaterial: https://blnnews.com/2025/10/29/connect-transit-union-shows-up-at-board-meeting/
The design has changed, retail inside isn’t mentioned anymore. It will have a Board room since their current room is too small. 85-95 parking spaces are allocated to Connect. How many people drive to catch a bus? Do they expect dozens and dozens of people to attend board meetings?
Did you know the City will be leasing from Connect? Connect is buying the land, of course we don’t know for how much or if the City is responsible for clearing it first. Whatever is in the final agreement the Bloomington Council will be forced to rubber-stamp.
Construction costs are higher now because of the recent massive inflation, they claim to have the money but they are applying for more grants. The second design has the facility above the parking deck. There was no mention of how many parking spaces Bloomington will have. Does this mean they will need an elevator or is parking underground? Elevator yes, on the video at 29:00. Bathrooms are also included.
The process is slow because the Feds have to approve everything before giving them money. Illinois is also involved and still hasn’t release the $3 million awarded to Connect. In other words, local decisions aren’t controlling the process.
A groundbreaking is planned in the spring of 2026 (maybe summer according to the video), it won’t be finished until the fall of 2027.
One more note from the documentation, PDF page 41:
Isn’t the Normal Uptown location a transfer station too? If this number is correct, MILLIONS of your dollars will be spent for a small percent of riders.
3 months of losses are in the packet. Grand Total $4,444,132. Congrats.
Just hit Play to hear this recap:
Diane, or one of your readers, can you please tell me what is the reason for the huge, heavy, empty buses? Who’s pulling the strings? Where we go in SW Florida has buses too, lots of them. But they’re half the size of these behemoths, are more maneuverable, and more plentiful. These buses are so outsized an idiot can see it. Somebody is profiting, somebody is making fools out of the taxpayers. Who? Why?
Federal grants!
Fine. But federal grants don’t have to pay for outsized buses. They can pay for reasonable sized buses and have more of them. I don’t think because it’s grant money dictates such a stupid choice. No doubt the Florida buses are grant funded too.
I know it was talked about one at a meeting. We were told they had to buy large buses.
This grant money is exactly what’s wrong with our government…. well, one of the things. “Use it or lose it” grant money has no incentive to cut spending. If you don’t need something don’t buy it. But that’s not how it works.
Sustained Development involving Illinois, Federal, and international planning? Who’s idea was that? Again, and I apologize if referring to Florida is boring, but Naples, which is waaay bigger than BloNo, does it differently. Very differently. Somebody pushed this on us. Saying federal grants or Sustained Development is not the real answer, somebody started this rabbit hole. Someone is responsible. Also someone should be able to say whoa this is nuts! Let’s start over!!!
The Municipal Transit system was redesigned to facilitate all the population of the Twin Cities as well as a percentage of others from the outlying area. This is a “Sustained Development “ plan that involves State of Illinois, Federal, and International planning. This plan, and our current system were to accommodate everyone, as if we had no other reliable local transportation.
Especially when taxi services went out of business