An aerial view shows land near the intersection of E International Avenue and N Minnewawa Avenue north of Clovis which the city of Clovis has purchased with plans to build a new transit center.
CRAIG KOHLRUSS
ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
The Clovis City Council approved buying 24.41 acres near East International Avenue and North Minnewawa Avenue to build a new transit center that can support zero-emission buses. The purchase comes as the city’s free bus program faces funding questions tied to the uncertain future of Measure C, a county half-cent sales tax.
FULL STORY: Clovis pays $4 million to acquire land for new transit center. Here are the details
Here are key takeaways:
• The council approved the $4.15 million purchase at its Mar. 2 meeting. The land was owned by GV Land Holdings, LLC, which is owned by Fresno developer Darius Assemi. A state grant covers the land acquisition and preliminary engineering.
• A 2018 state law requires all public transit agencies to shift to 100% zero-emission bus fleets by 2040. The city’s existing maintenance yard lacks the space and infrastructure to support that transition, according to Amy Hance, the city’s general services director.
• Clovis bus ridership has grown 35% since the city expanded from two main loops to eight routes last November, according to city officials.
• Measure C pays $2.1 million of the $13 million annual cost to run Clovis’s eight-route bus system. Without that money, the city might have to shrink service, cut hours or start charging riders, Hance said.
• “$2.1 million is huge for our service,” Hance said at a February council meeting. “We’re looking at everything, and we’re taking a look at our service model.”
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.
The Fresno Bee
Leqi Zhong is the Clovis accountability/enterprise reporter for The Bee. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Master’s degree in journalism. She joined The Bee in 2023 as an education reporter. Leqi grew up in China and is native in Cantonese and Mandarin.