BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS, The Daily Gazette

Plans for a new Capital District Transportation Authority transit center on lower State Street are starting to move forward.

The CDTA board on Wednesday voted to hire an architecture and engineering firm for $270,000 to develop plans for a full enclosed transit center next to Gateway Plaza, where buses for the BusPlus rapid transit route to Albany now marshal along the side of the street, next to a bus shelter.

Potentially, the center and the new Amtrak station a few blocks away could make it easier and more comfortable for people traveling to and from downtown Schenectady, which has been undergoing a decade-long revitalization.

The plans may incorporate replacing the deteriorated Adirondack Trailways bus station next door, creating a CDTA transit center that could also be a base for inter-city bus operations. Most likely, the existing bus station would be demolished and replaced with something new.

As envisioned, a CDTA transit center would offer a small indoor waiting area as well as restrooms for customers and employees.

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