Editor’s note: This op-ed for Bus & Motorcoach News is written by Todd Larson, with The Galante Architecture Studio.
A collaboration between Yankee Line and The Galante Architecture Studio (TGAS) seeks to define the future of luxury motorcoach maintenance with forward-thinking technology and advanced sustainable design.
The out-of-the way, spacious setting in Randolph, Massachusetts, provides generous elbow room for Yankee Line’s new 60,000-square-foot headquarters and fleet maintenance center. It is being developed with a threefold purpose: to be remote enough not to cause traffic buildup or noise, spacious enough to accommodate full services for an 80-strong fleet, and sustainable enough to maximize energy efficiency in both the coaches and the facility.
TGAS has been designing sustainable facilities like this since its founding in 1997, well before LEED Certified buildings became the norm. The firm’s commitment to efficient, sustainable projects was one reason it was chosen to design multiple buildings and offices for Harvard University. This early work prepared TGAS for the future. Now, building codes require some form of in-depth sustainability, and founding principal Ted Galante and others have become fully LEED Accredited to reflect those requirements.

Facility in tune with user needs
Yankee Line enlisted TGAS for its project after visiting Harvard’s Fleet Management Services shop, which TGAS designed. The 70,000-square-foot facility provides 24-hour, four-season service for the university’s diverse fleet of shuttle vans, snowplows, and police vehicles, synchronizing the rhythm of their upkeep with the needs of their users.
Yankee Line wanted a similar approach to the new headquarters. Such a full-service facility would help the company keep its shuttles ship-shape for its long-term contract with agencies like the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), which operates Boston’s subway system, to supply shuttle buses when train lines go out of service.
“The new building is designed to house two platform lifts and two axle lifts capable of servicing the entire Yankee Line fleet, as well as the MBTA fleet for state agencies if necessary,” said TGAS principal Yar Laakso. “It’s also designed to contain a large two-story tire carousel, large bus-part storage areas, and many different pieces of equipment and tools.”
The facility will have a built-in mechanism designed to lift articulating vehicles, which hinge at the midpoint and are almost 60 feet long, twice the length of a normal bus. The building will also contain two wash bays with automatic rollover washing systems, four deep-maintenance bays, and a fifth double-deep bay for articulating coaches.

Ted Galante worked closely with Don Dunham of Yankee Line to think through every aspect of this facility.
“Locating a building to safely accommodate large vehicles, pedestrians, personal cars, and delivery trucks has to be done with a lot of care and forethought,” Galante said. “These are not your everyday facilities, and a specialist is required to plan one.”
Galante and Dunham sought to reflect Yankee Line’s brand of luxury, efficiency and safety. To this end, Yankee Line’s headquarters will typify TGAS’s industrial ingenuity and architectural aesthetics, serving as a dignified tune-up and departure point for operators’ routes, a comfortable place to work in natural light beaming through skylights, and a distinguished exterior.
“The front of the building is intended to be an inviting, welcoming gesture of identity for Yankee Line,” Galante said. “The large-scale cantilever expresses the movement that resonates with a motorcoach line. The smaller-scale entrance elements welcome visitors to mix with bus traffic, but in a clear, safe way.” A wood-grille treatment will continue this effect in the entry lobby leading to a third-floor, 100-person training room for motorcoach operators.

Form doesn’t override function
In planning the facility, Galante and Dunham worked to find the safest, most cost-effective solutions without compromising function. They didn’t neglect the basics: designated areas and equipment for general maintenance, safety redundancies, extensive state-of-the-art dispatch areas, engine fueling, exterior washing, interior cleaning, storage, and tire repair were all meticulously studied during the early design phases.
They also prepared the facility for the winter with advanced snow-melting systems at all overhead doors and radiant-heated floors in all maintenance areas. This, coupled with the skylit interiors, will enable Yankee Line to provide 24-hour rain-or-shine service. Other features will include dedicated drivers’ locker rooms, full-dispatch conference and cafeteria spaces for employees, and more.
When completed by the end of 2025, the new building will be an all-in-one facility that keeps its fleet ready for action with an architectural design that is as expressive and recognizable as the coaches are for their riders.
To prepare Yankee Line for what’s down the road, the facility is preparing for an electrified future as the grid evolves and more electric motorcoaches are required. Infrastructure for larger electric chargers similar to that already at Harvard is being installed for a plug-and-play situation for Yankee Line.
Careful planning by Yankee Line, along with sharp design work by The Galante Architecture Studio, has set both firms up for the long haul.
“This is how smart companies advance,” Galante said. “In the tumultuous world of motorcoach services, if a company isn’t planning and designing new facilities now, it’ll be left behind in the very near future.”