Work will soon begin on a new headquarters for Washington County Mini Bus.

The transit service which serves the entire county was recently awarded a $472,456 Public Transit Infrastructure Grant from the Iowa Transportation Commission. The grant covers 80% of the cost for a new facility, as Washington County Mini Bus has been housed in the same building on West 5th Street in Washington for almost 50 years. Washington Mayor Jaron Rosien serves on the board of directors for the minibus, “The need is clear for space and for upgrades that are long overdue. For the infrastructure inside of the building, I believe in fact there’s a porta potty outside the building right now. So if you’d like a firsthand example of the need for improvements, the porta potty on the outside would be that example.”

Cris Gaughan has been the transit director for mini bus since 2015, and she shares how it felt to receive the grant which the county has applied for multiple times, “Oh that was so exciting, being able to share that once I received the news with everyone else it was very exciting. We’ve been working on this for a while now and I just can’t wait to get it started.”

Greiner Buildings is the contractor for the new building which will be constructed in front of the current facility. The current building will then be converted into more storage space for the buses. The new building will be ADA compliant and feature an enclosed dispatch area, three offices, two restrooms, and a larger break room which will allow for larger staff meetings and training. Work is expected to begin on October 11th with completion anticipated this coming April.