New transit center to open by ‘10

To improve upon an already nationally recognized public transportation system, plans for a new energy-efficient transit center have been released for downtown Knoxville.

The Knoxville Transit Center will be built downtown near the Civic Coliseum to increase the efficiency of the transportation infrastructure in Knoxville. Plans for its construction were released in December.

The new center is expected to streamline routes across the county, but according to Cindy McGinnis, general manager of Knoxville Area Transit, it is not expected to alter routes at UT significantly.

The new transit center will serve 20 buses at once and include air conditioning, heat, restrooms and security. The new station will feature the Automatic Vehicle Locator system, which places Global Positioning System trackers on all the buses to allow patrons to locate their bus from the station. Additionally, buses will arrive simultaneously which allows customers to change routes easily.

Jeff Gaylon of the Public Building Authority said this will cut idling of buses, and “less idling (equals) less pollution.”

The new facility will be environmentally friendly in other ways as well. According to Gaylon, the facility will meet Leadership in Environmental Energy Design standards, meaning it will be energy efficient and use sustainable building practices. The structure will also be built from sustainable materials.

Gaylon said the new center will use a geothermal energy system that uses water in 300-feet-deep wells to heat and cool the system. He explained that this is more energy efficient than conventional systems which rely on the air around buildings — where temperatures can vary widely.

The geothermal system will use water that has a base temperature of 55 degrees. He said it will only take a 15-degree difference in its base temperature to heat or cool the building, which is much more efficient than heating cold air in the winter or cooling hot air in the summer. Drilling for the system will begin in a few weeks.

The building will also have a green roof which will allow plants to grow on top of the building. This will reduce heating costs by providing an extra layer of insulation as well as reduce cooling costs through evaporative cooling. Additionally the plants on the roof will absorb pollutants from the air.

“I think the building is a huge opportunity. (It is) visibly state of the art, ecologically friendly, and most importantly, a comfortable place for customers to rest,” McGinnis said.

The building will be 108,000 square feet and feature a walkway across James White Parkway to increase passenger safety and facilitate travel between buses. The project will cost $27 million, with the city of Knoxville covering more than 10 percent of the cost.

The city is in the process of conducting a study on how to make Knoxville more energy efficient in other ways too.

The current facility is located in front of the City County Building and construction on the new facility is expected to be completed by Fall 2009, and the facility will be put in use on Jan. 2010.