SCAT Transfer Station Opens Monday

Folks looking to get a ride to and from the areas near Cattleman Road and Bahia Vista Street will have a new option starting Monday.

The new Cattleman Intermodal Transit Station will open for service Monday. It's located just north of the Sarasota County Government Cattleman Complex off of Cattleman Road and Bahia Vista Street.

"With expansion of our SCAT services as well as our customer base, we need to meet that challenge with new facilities to satisfy increasing needs of our transit dependent community," County Commission Vice Chairwoman Carolyn Mason said at a Thursday ribbon cutting event.

The station has six bays that can hold SCAT's 29- and 35-foot buses and the new 40-foot express service buses. Another area can handle para-transit buses if all six bays are full.

Two of the bays can handle Greyhound and other intercity bus services; however Greyhound has no plans yet to use the station.

"This represents a particularly exciting opportunity to promote Sarasota County as a destination for transit users outside the area while providing SCAT riders with an affordable travel option to other locations inside and outside Florida," Mason said.

Other features includes ticketing, restrooms and an office area for SCAT workers and managers.

The $2.2 million station is expected to be the first Sarasota County transit station to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, Mason said.

The station was paid for through a Florida Department of Transportation intermodal grant, two grants from the Federal Transit Administration, one of which being the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus.

Route Adjustments

Minor changes will be made to Route 1 (Fruitville Road), Route 15 (Airport/Cattleman) while Route 1A Fruitville via McIntosh will see adjustments, said SCAT senior planner Sarah Blanchard. Route 1A will now terminate at the new station.

Some buses will continue to 1001 Sarasota Center Boulevard but you will need to transfer.

If you want to go to the Packinghouse Road and Palmer Boulevard stop, you will have to walk.

The stop at Cattleman Road/Bahia Vista Street will be discontinued and be replaced by the new station.

Route 1 already runs late, she said, and during traffic congestion on Fruitville Road that may be a few minutes late. Corrections to that route will be made in March.

Additionally, the SCAT Track website, trips planned via Google Transit, and Estimated Arrival Times page will not account for times at the new station until corrections are made in March, she said.

Posters explaining these three routes are also posted inside SCAT buses.

For any questions about the schedule or how these routes are affected, call SCAT at 861-5000.