GoBus, a public transportation service for 14 East Texas counties, has announced plans for a new in-house Kilgore facility to provide a more consistent maintenance program.
Meredith Shamburger/Panola Watchman Photo

Longview News-Journal 
Meredith Shamburger/Panola Watchman Photo
December 22, 2022 at 06:19PM

KILGORE — GoBus, a public transportation service for 14 East Texas counties, has announced plans for a new in-house Kilgore facility to provide a more consistent maintenance program.

At the end of November, GoBus announced it was approved by the East Texas Council of Governments’ Executive Committee to build the facility in an effort for enhanced preventative measures on organizational vehicles across their service region.

“After several years of research and planning, GoBus is excited to be in the preliminary stages of construction and design,” said Transportation Director Vince Huerta. “Having in-house maintenance will reduce turnaround time for vehicle repairs allowing us to get them back on the road, assisting customers sooner and safer.”

GoBus is funded by the Texas Department of Transportation and administered by the East Texas Council of Governments. The service offered by GoBus is a rural, demand response public transit system with about 300 vehicles operating a district of more than 10,000 square miles, including 17 starting locations. This accounts for about 1.4 million miles of public transportation per year in the area.

The project has an estimated budget of about $2.5 million and is set to allow for staff relocation, two vehicle bays, training rooms and additional parking for regional vehicles.

The services offered by GoBus give essential transportation to provide access to jobs, medical appointments, social services, entertainment, or any other destination requests, according to GoBus officials. These have allowed for more 100,000 trips each year for East Texas residents.

GoBus estimates the in-house maintenance facility will be completed in late 2023 to early 2024.

“Ultimately, this opportunity allows us to continue our mission of providing safe, reliable and friendly transportation services,” Huerta said.

For information or to schedule transportation, go to www.GoBusTransit.com .