Business View Magazine | September 2020

124 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 developments, while half of the lower level will be redeveloped into a new rail station. “By building the new station in that area, it allows us to open up direct access to the KeyBank Center,” says George. “There’s also a 40,000-square-foot balcony that overlooks the Buffalo River, and the station will extend rail into the heart of the Cobblestone area, direct to the river itself.” The project is well under construction and is anticipated to be completed by early 2022. NFTA has also partnered with the Cobblestone District Business Group and the Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative to produce a series of murals to breathe new life into the historic terminal. While NFTA continues to embrace their longstanding roots, they recognize that evolution and new direction is also something to strive for, and they welcome the change. “Showing up and trying your best isn’t good enough,” says George, “people have higher expectations of what’s available nowadays. Every year, our transit authority becomes more tech savvy. We operate with more software for our fleets, which can be challenging for a legacy organization with a strong history, but we take pride in our ability to stay current and relevant. We evolve because we want to be more efficient.” NFTA is in the process of upgrading their fare collection infrastructure with modern systems that are compatible with mobile devices. According to George, “We’re rolling out an entire system that is technology driven, riders will be able to board a bus or a train and tap a credit card for their fares. The new system is currently in the pilot testing stages and expected to be integrated by early 2021. We’re really excited about the opportunity to give our riders new options in how they use our system.” NFTA is also making a conscious effort to become more environmentally friendly with their fleet operations. They currently have three bus garages, each housing about a third of their fleet base, one of which houses a compressed natural gas station. “We transitioned all of our vehicles at that station from diesel to compressed Director of Public Transit, Tom George