City officials broke ground yesterday morning on an $8.2 million transit center at Middle Street.

Expected to open in October 2010, it will serve as one of the bus system's main transfer hubs and will eventually link commuters to O'ahu's planned rail transit line.

The transit center will include bays for staging buses and an expanded transit center to replace an existing bus service center just mauka at the headquarters of Oahu Transit Services, operator of TheBus. It will also include an electronic information billboard, a customer service center, two restroom buildings, a utility building and security office.

Eventually, it is expected to connect via bridge with the future mass transit line, as well as a 1,000-car parking facility, as part of a Middle Street Intermodal Center that will take up a large portion of the Middle Street-Kamehameha Highway intersection.

"Intermodal" means a system that will incorporate TheBus, HandiVan, bicycles, cars, walking and rail, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.

The project not only provides a critical facility for transit riders, it also also means jobs for construction workers during the economic downturn, the mayor said. "Now, more than ever, we've got to create jobs," Hannemann said. "Now, more than ever, we've got to stimulate the economy."