Atlantic, Iowa  February 8, 2019:  Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), which operates Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA), has completed the purchase of a 10,000 square foot vehicle staging and storage facility at 3236 Nebraska Avenue, Council Bluffs.  The new facility has indoor parking space for fifteen transit buses, a vehicle maintenance area, office space, training rooms, and driver waiting and storage space.  There is also a large, fenced exterior parking area that will be able to accommodate vehicles not in active use.

SWITA is headquartered in Atlantic and provides public transit services throughout an 8 county region in Southwest Iowa, including Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County.  It also operates the Special Transit Service (STS) for the City of Council Bluffs, which is the city’s para-transit service.  SWITA operates a fleet of over 100 vehicles and approximately 20 of those vehicles and 21 drivers are currently based in and around Council Bluffs.  All of the Council Bluffs vehicles are currently stored outside at various locations.  In 2018 over 100,000 public transit rides were provided by SWITA in Pottawattamie County, and an additional 250,000 throughout the rest of the region.

SWIPCO executive director John McCurdy said, “We have an excellent facility in Atlantic, which is our main administrative and maintenance hub, but we have been reviewing properties in the Council Bluffs area for over 2 years.  The 3236 Nebraska Avenue location meets all of our needs with a near turnkey solution that will be a great satellite location to our Atlantic base.  The recent frigid weather has underscored the need for us to get as many of our vehicles indoors as possible.  It extends the life of the vehicles, enhances the drivers’ ability to keep their vehicles clean and secure, and will improve the overall experience for our riders.”

The Council Bluffs facility is currently undergoing a few necessary upgrades and vehicles will begin staging out of it in the next few weeks.

Southwest Iowa Planning Council is a council of governments that serves Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Montgomery, Mills, Page, Pottawattamie, and Page Counties in Iowa.  Southwest Iowa Transit Agency is its public transit service.  All services are open to the public, and SWIPCO is an equal opportunity provider, lender, and employer