Courtesy Metro

A rendering of the proposed Division 13 facility.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Construction has begun on a new $72 million bus depot slated to be built behind Union Station. Metro's blog The Source reports that project is expected to take two years to complete and when finished, will include maintenance facilities, a multi-level parking garage, bus fueling and washing stations, transportation offices and more.

Metro says the new bus yard, situated on the northeast and southeast corners of Vignes Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue, will "set an example for sustainable design" by using "energy efficient and environmentally responsible building methods." The facility, dubbed Division 13, will include water efficient landscaping and a green roof garden for Metro employees.

In addition, Metro's fleet of old diesel buses will be replaced with compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, said Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. The site can accommodate up to 200 of these CNG buses.

This new bus facility will be built on property already used by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"I am encouraged that this new bus division will enhance the mobility for thousands of my constituents and thousands of other commuters in Los Angeles County,” U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard said in a statement. “The construction of this bus division will both promote the continued growth of mass transit in our region and provide good paying jobs to hundreds of construction workers."

About $52 million of the project is funded through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Metro estimates finishing the project by the summer of 2014.