NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez is making the final stops on the road to construction of the state-of-the-art regional transit facility planned for the city.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to begin advertising for bids from construction companies for the project. Natchez Transit System Executive Director Sabrena Bartley said she anticipates the aldermen awarding the project to a company at the board’s April 24 meeting.

Bartley said she believes construction of the facility, which will be located at the site of the former A-B Motor Company on North Shields Lane, will start soon after the city hires a construction company.

“It’s been a painstaking event so far, and I’m just so excited that we’re at this point right now that this vision is becoming a reality,” Bartley said.

NTS has worked with the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration on getting approval for the project. Bartley said the vision behind the transit facility is regionalism, and the goal is to centralize transportation services to one location.

Since the 2005 passage of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, Bartley said, there has been a push for the coordination of services and the elimination of duplicate services of different transportation providers by enabling the providers to share their resources.

Bartley said the facility will allow NTS to expand its service area and incorporate park-and-ride routes carrying out-of-town passengers with new fixed routes in the city that will have designated stops and fixed schedules. She said NTS will be the lead agency at the facility and will be able to work with and coordinate services with other transportation providers.

The facility, its equipment, as well as two recently purchased trolleys, commuter bus and two other passenger vehicles, are being funded by a $3 million federal stimulus package through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The FTA is administering the funds, which require no matching funds from the city.

The facility will house offices for NTS, as well other transportation providers, such as a limousine service or other public transportation systems, Bartley said.

All transit vehicles, Bartley said, will be kept at the new facility, which will also have an on-site maintenance center. She said NTS will hire mechanics and other staff for the facility creating at least 20 new jobs.

NTS will also receive a technology upgrade with the new facility, Bartley said. Currently, the transit vehicles use GPS, but she said a tracking system at the new facility will allow staff to see the movement of NTS vehicles as well as vehicles for other transportation providers that will use the facility.

The new automated system will also allow requests for service, vehicle maintenance, billing and other things to be kept in one easily accessible system, Bartley said.

The facility’s 24-hour regional call center, Bartley said, will allow people to call one number for all their transportation needs.

The facility will also have a center for staff training for NTS, MDOT and any other providers leasing office space at the facility.

The City of Natchez will receive any revenue from leased office space to be put in the general fund for future expansion of transportation services.

Natchez was chosen for the facility, Bartley said, because the city is not only an economic hub in southwest Mississippi but also because it is typically on evacuation routes for natural disasters. The facility will also be equipped with emergency generators to serve as a transportation coordination point during a disaster.

MDOT Southern District Transportation Commissioner Tom King said the facility will benefit residents of all walks of life.

“(The transportation facility) will help more workers get to jobs, veterans get to the VA and students get to school,” King said in a press release. “The new transportation facility will be a tremendous positive for the Natchez and Adams County community.