Leggett Celebrates Completion of Transit Operations Center (Photos)
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett celebrated the opening of the new David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center (EMTOC) in Rockville on Oct 30. The EMTOC is a Smart Growth Initiative (SGI) project that is transforming a light industrial area around the Shady Grove Metro into to transit-oriented development, which will eventually include thousands of new housing units.
The David F. Bone EMTOC is a collection of 12 buildings serving the Department of Transportation’s divisions of Transit Services and Highway Services and the Department of General Services’ Division of Fleet Management. The onsite facilities include;
- the largest salt barn on the east coast
- parking for 200 buses
- bus service lanes
- bus wash facility
- bus service maintenance bays
- parts room
- heavy equipment storage shed
- soil/gravel storage area
- compressed natural gas fast-fill
- gasoline and diesel fueling stations
- and administrative buildings.
“One of the priorities of my administration has been developing the Smart Growth Initiative, and I am very proud to be celebrating completion of another of the many projects that will help make this plan a reality,” said Leggett. “By relocating old and overcrowded County government facilities to make way for a sustainable, transit-oriented community near Metro, we are boosting the economic health and competitiveness of Montgomery County. The Smart Growth Initiative will create a better quality of life for our residents well into the future.”
EMTOC is named for the late David F. Bone, Ride On’s senior planner from it’s creation in 1973 until 2000. He was the chief architect of Ride On’s service philosophy, route design and structure, creating the concept of Ride On as a neighborhood feeder system to Metrorail and Metrobus. Bone was involved in every aspect of Ride On, including attending all public hearings, participating in union negotiations, developing strategic plans and creating transit centers, such as those at Lakeforest and Montgomery malls and the Germantown Transit Center. Bone died in 2009.
“Dave’s genius was in Ride On route design, and he developed a system that was quite unique for those times,” said Ride On General Manager Carolyn Biggins. “Rather than staying on main roads, he routed buses into neighborhoods to connect whole communities to soon-to-be completed Metro stations and employment centers., Dave designed routes that fed two or sometimes three rail stations, unlike other suburban bus systems that might provide service to one rail station . Thanks to Dave, most of Ride On’s routes are among the most productive suburban bus routes in the country, because they have ridership that is balanced in both directions at almost all hours of operation.”
The overall project is designed to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification by incorporating innovative features. The EMTOC’s environmentally-sensitive design increases the size of existing facilities, but does so within a smaller footprint than the facilities it replaces by using multi-story buildings. The approach has preserved many acres of green space to provide a stream buffer and conserve forest land. A pilot project, the first in the State of Maryland, will reclaim, treat and reuse rainwater for toilet flushing and bus washing, reducing water use by 80 percent. Seventy-five percent of the building roofs, more than four acres, are green to decrease stormwater runoff.
Other green design elements include: 100 percent of average annual rainfall treated by storm filters; energy efficiency features expected to reduce energy costs by 30 percent compared to typical buildings; solar lighting on the parking roof; reuse or recycling of 75 percent of construction and land debris; exterior lighting that fully complies with LEED light pollution reduction requirements; low-flow plumbing fixtures expected to save 30 to 40 percent of water use; equipment and refrigerants that minimize or eliminate the emission of compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming; use of low-emission and regional materials in construction; purchase of Renewable Energy Credits for a cleaner and more sustainable environment; active and passive noise reduction measures; and low-maintenance landscaping that will not require irrigation.
Leggett also announced that the Department of General Services Division of Fleet Management Services has added 40 new, clean diesel buses to the Ride On fleet.
This is the largest number of buses purchased at one time since 2009.
With this most recent acquisition, more than 75 percent of the Ride On fleet is comprised of clean diesel, hybrid electric-diesel or compressed natural gas buses.
Joining Leggett at the EMTOC were Montgomery County Councilmember Craig Rice, Department of General Services Director David Dise and Department of Transportation Deputy Director Al Roshdieh.
Ride On bus drivers check in station. A new safety tip is posted here daily.
Additional Coverage:
New County Transit Center (Video)
Executive Isiah Leggett officially inaugurated the David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center (EMTOC) in Rockville. The facility houses 12 buildings serving the Department of Transportation. It includes parking for 200 buses, bus maintenance, fueling station and other maintenance equipment, storage and services. Take a look. Visit our PEG partner County Cable Montgomery […]
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The new Montgomery County transit operations center is dedicated to a former Ride On planner, David F. Bone. In this MyMCMedia extra, DOT’s Al Rosdieh discusses the significance of the name and the facility at a recent press conference on site of the new facility. Roshdieh also notes some of the other important features, including […]
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General Services Director David Dise addresses the crowd at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center in Rockville. Take a look:
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Leggett Celebrates Completion of Transit Operations Center (Photos)
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett celebrated the opening of the new David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center (EMTOC) in Rockville on Oct 30. The EMTOC is a Smart Growth Initiative (SGI) project that is transforming a light industrial area around the Shady Grove Metro into to transit-oriented development, which will eventually include […]
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