MI: Harbor Transit breaks ground on new operations center

Leaders from throughout the Tri-Cities gathered Wednesday as Harbor Transit ground on its new operations center.

The new 47,350-foot facility will be located on 172nd Avenue, between Walmart and Aldi, and will replace Harbor Transit’s current home at 440 N. Ferry St.

“We’re very excited. This has been a work in progress,” said Harbor Transit Director Scott Borg. “With working with the Federal Transit Administration, applying for grants, receiving grants – it’s been going on almost four years, so today is very exciting for us.”

Borg said the new facility will be key to getting all of Harbor Transit’s staff and services in the same location.

“Currently, we’re in a facility where we don’t have all of our staff under one roof,” he said. “We’re having to lease space from City Hall to house our finance department. … This is going to modernize our fleet – reliability comfort, and environmental sustainability – and improve access for every member of our community. It will create a safe and welcoming facility, not only for our passengers but also for employees and staff.”

Borg hopes it will also encourage more use of public transportation, which in turn lowers congestion and limits pollution.

Grand Haven Township Manager Bill Cargo spoke Wednesday and outlined the tremendous growth taking place across the municipalities that Harbor Transit serves. He highlighted new housing developments in Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Township, and Ferrysburg, in addition to Grand Haven Township, that in the coming months and years will add thousands of homes to those communities.

“In order to progress, Harbor Transit must grow, and today, we’re celebrating Harbor Transit’s growth with this groundbreaking,” Cargo said.

Borg said finding property for the new operations center within Harbor Transit’s core service area was a challenge.

“This area, it’s tough to find a location, very tough, especially where it’s accessible to businesses,” he said. “We were able to take a look at where our ridership is mainly going, and two spots were very popular – Meijer and Walmart, and now Aldi as well. So this is an ideal spot to build a public transit facility.”

Harbor Transit is a public transportation authority, funded by the federal government, the Michigan Department of Transportation, and local millages.

Harbor Transit currently operates 27 ADA-accessible busses, and averages around 13,500 rides per month.

In addition, Harbor Transit offers community transportation during events such as the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival and Winterfest.

“Coast Guard Festival, we get over 5,000 passengers on that particular day,” Borg said. “It’s a tremendous operation that we put together – a lot of moving pieces. Winterfest is certainly a great opportunity because we all know that parking can be very difficult in the city. We’re able to provide services to get participants and spectators down to Winterfest to enjoy the events.”

Borg said they’ve already begun preparing the site for construction, which will take about 13 months.

Harbor Transit debuts new logo

As Harbor Transit breaks ground on its new operations center, they are also debuting a new look.

Harbor Transit’s original logo, created in the early 1980s, was designed by Grand Haven’s Ronald Olmsted to represent the three municipalities that made up their service area at the time – Ferrysburg, Grand Haven and Spring Lake.

Over the past five decades, Harbor Transit’s service area has expanded to include Grand Haven Township and Spring Lake Township, and now with a shared stop in Muskegon Area Transit System’s service area to better link the two regions. Through the Lakeshore Trolley, Harbor Transit also provides service to Fruitport.

Harbor Transit’s new logo and branding, designed by Olmsted Signs & Design, signal the organization’s forward momentum as a regional resource that now expands beyond the Tri-Cities.

“The timing of the new logo reveal is intentional,” Borg said. “We just broke ground at the site of Harbor Transit’s new operations center in Grand Haven Township. Harbor Transit is evolving and growing to meet the needs of the Northwest Ottawa County area, and we’re excited for this next chapter.”

© 2026 the Grand Haven Tribune (Grand Haven, Mich.).
Visit www.grandhaventribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.