Lexington’s downtown Lextran station was in ‘bad’ need of renovation. See the facelift
A facelift for Lextran’s 36-year old transit center has long been an obvious need for the agency, said Lextran General Manager Fred Combs.
“It was bad,” Combs candidly told the Herald-Leader.
Lextran buses provided over 3.68 million rides in fiscal year 2025, and most of the 25 bus routes converge at the downtown transit center, meaning the overwhelming majority of passengers spend at least some portion of their trip at the Vine Street hub.
The experience before the renovation left something to be desired for passengers and staff alike.
The breakroom for drivers, who often arrive at the same time to take a 10-minute break between departures, was extremely narrow. Long lines would form in a tight hallway for the bathrooms, and there was hardly any space for drivers to sit and socialize.
Paint had long been chipping away on the exterior walls and columns, and graffiti often covered what paint remained.
Riders had to stand outside to speak with customer service employees separated by a window, while noise from Lextran buses overpowered the service area’s microphones. Service employees often bumped into each other while working at slim desks.
But after nearly 10 months of construction and $3 million dollars spent — debt-free, entirely out of the agency’s coffers — the new transit center has greatly improved the experience of both drivers, staff, and passengers.
The new breakroom for drivers is much roomier than before. It features a full fridge and freezer, several vending machines, coffee makers, and three restrooms.
And if the breakroom gets too crowded or a driver simply wants a little alone time, a small conference room now lets employees step aside to sit or make a phone call.
“(The breakroom) is busy, it’s bustling, and this is the only opportunity that drivers have to do something like that,” Combs said. “That’s why this space was a very interesting and important part of the design.”
The room also lets the agency’s management team spend time with drivers who don’t often find themselves at Lextran’s Loudon Avenue office building.
“The previous transit center did not have a real office,” Emily Elliott, Lextran’s director of planning and community development, said. “For us to be able to come work down here and spend some real quality time with people is a great thing.”
When Combs stepped into the new interior customer service room, he immediately pointed out how quiet the space was.
“I can’t even describe how exciting it is to be able to hear and have conversations,” he said.
Where the former interior waiting area was separated from the customer service desk, the two are now blended into a shared space. It’s easier for staff and customers to hear each other, but also gives riders a chance to sit in an air-controlled are while waiting for the next bus.
Riders now have an easier time seeing when the next bus is coming. A large screen in the waiting room, as well as several outdoor kiosks, let passengers see where the bus is in real time and how far away it is from the transit center.
The outdoor kiosks feature buttons that let you toggle through information across different routes. They stand quite tall, but an accessibility button toward the bottom of the kiosk will play an audio reading of information on the screen or recolor the screen for riders who need a high-contrast display.
“It seems really simple, but it’s so impactful as a passenger,” Elliott said. “You may have had that feeling of waiting and not knowing and when are things coming, but now you’ve got a beautiful display to tell you the things that you need to know.”
New paint, floors and lighting on the outside make the center much brighter and easier to see around at night.
But one of the newest features of the renovation is still in the works. A bodega space, which is currently being used as storage, will someday be a service hub where nonprofit and community agencies can set up shop and share resources with passengers.
Many of Lextran’s riders are low income or do not own a car. The bus system provides essential transportation not just to get to work, but to access several nonprofit and social services agencies. Some of those groups could meet riders where they are at the downtown center.
”We think the space has a lot of opportunity,” Elliot said. “We’re trying to gage interest in what types of programming (different community organizations) have, what needs they might have, how to accommodate it in this space.”
The space could also host community input sessions or educational events for Lextran itself.
While the transit center was under construction from April 2025 to mid-January 2026, passengers boarded buses along High Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The temporary set-up worked very well operationally, Combs said, but did put stress on riders being exposed to hot summer weather or icy winter temperatures.
Combs said there was one unexpected benefit of the temporary outdoor boarding.
“People who don’t normally interact with the system got to see how many people we serve because we were much more visible than we were (at the transit center),” Combs said. “I heard that over and over again. ‘Oh my gosh, that many people ride the bus?’”
What’s next for Lextran improvements?
Now that the new transit center is reopened, Lextran is moving toward other new services.
Lextran will pilot a new downtown circulator from April to October of this year. Four small buses will run two routes connecting National Avenue business through downtown to the Distillery District on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
A new microtransit pilot will launch sometimes this summer, allowing riders to book trips on an Uber-style service in an area of northwest Lexington. Persistent advocacy from local faith group BUILD led to Lexington’s Urban County Council allocating money to Lextran for that pilot.
“It’s going to be a very big year for us,” Combs said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
CORRECTION: A new downtown circulator will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This information was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
