HENRIC COUNTY, Va. -- The Henrico County Board of Supervisors recently approved the $1.3 million purchase of a West End strip mall, between Parham Road and West Broad Street, where the county and GRTC will build a new bus transfer station and Pulse bus stop.
"That is the dream. To have a climate controlled place for people to wait, use the bathroom, just a much more comfortable transfer experience than might exist at Willow Lawn right now, which has shelters but isn’t perfect," GRTC spokesperson Henry Bendon said.
The expanded service adds four miles to the a rapid-transit bus line which currently runs from Willow Lawn in the West End, through the City of Richmond, to Rocketts Landing in East End. Currently, more than 6,100 daily riders use the Pulse.
"It’s one of the most successful buses not just in our system, but in the Commonwealth," Bendon said.
Plans for the Henrico transfer station are still in their early phases, but call for buses arriving from the west to turn left at Skipwith Road and enter the transfer area off Parham Road before heading east on West Broad Street.
Bendon said project leaders also want to include a park and ride space to help commuters who want to take the Pulse into the city.
"People who want to be in Henrcio and come to Henrico are going to have the flexibility that the Pulse provides. You go when you want to go; you go where you want to go," Bendon said. "We know that transit is this economic engine that is freedom for everybody that uses it. It is all of these things that are really conducive to good policy. In Henrico and all of our partner jurisdictions, what we’re seeing is people want more of it."
The project is expected to be completed in 2028.
GRTC and county leadership are hosting an public event on October 1st at the Libbie Mill Library to hear from the public about what they would like to see happen with the project. You can learn about the expansion here.
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