Improved Bus Fleet Storage for Kirk Avenue Bus Facility

The project, which spanned three on-call contracts, began as a single project for Gannett Fleming in 2009. It was subsequently separated into two phases and culminated in construction completion in 2021. Gannett Fleming provided construction-related services for both phases, including overall coordination and management, as well as industrial and structural design. For Phase II, Gannett Fleming provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design.

Phase I involved the construction of a 100,000-square-foot maintenance building across the street from the existing facility, including:

• Associated parts storage.
• Chassis wash.
• Interior dead bus storage.
• Administrative area.
• Training room.
• Locker space.
• On-site staff parking.

The facility has six articulated bus maintenance bays, 10 standard bus maintenance bays, and 13 dead bus storage bays. Elevated offices provide maximum viewshed for maintenance oversight. The two-bay chassis wash allows maintenance staff to clean the underside of the buses via portable lifts.

Placing administrative and support areas on the ground and second floors minimizes the building’s footprint. Utilizing the existing topography of the project site, the team embedded a portion of the building into a slope, helping to lessen the building’s external footprint. Buses can circulate within the building, reducing vehicle visibility to the neighboring community. The building’s heating and ventilation systems are located within a mechanical room to reduce noise output.

Upon completion of the Phase I maintenance building, the existing Kirk Avenue facility was torn down and replaced with a 180,000-square-foot bus storage facility with space to house and maintain 145 buses. The interior storage will reduce bus shuffling, idling, and noise output while providing a more aesthetically pleasing view of the facility. In addition, bus fueling and washing are performed within the facility, limiting bus circulation to the interior. The storage building also contains:

• Bus transportation administrative spaces.
• Facilities maintenance.
• Vaulting operations.
• Fuel storage with off-street refill capability.
• On-site parking spaces for guests and visitors.

• Energy-efficient mechanical equipment lessens the facility’s carbon footprint.
• Internal bus fueling and washing capabilities reduce noise and visibility to the surrounding neighborhood.
• Use of existing sloped topography minimizes new building’s footprint and external visibility.

• 2022 Maryland Quality Initiative (MdQI) Award of Excellence for MdQI: MTA Modal for project over $5M.

• Accommodates growing and modern bus fleet.
• Improves maintenance and operational efficiency, reducing overall operating costs.
• Modernizes employee working conditions.
• Increases goodwill in the neighborhood by reducing noise and improving aesthetics.