There are two benefits to moving the Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System hub from Second Street, in front of the former Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Station, to the former Ray Nelson Service Station on Third Street across from Jamestown’s City Hall.

The biggest benefit is CARTS will be closer to city and county services that people may need, cutting down on the distance they have to walk in the winter months. And, renovations to the former service station will mean new, public and handicapped-accessible bathrooms downtown.

And, while the Jamestown Renaissance Corp. board has agreed to pay the cost of the facility for the first year, there are a lot of questions yet to be answered.

Are county taxpayers going to be asked to foot the bill for something that had previously been free after the first year? How much will the bill be? Will the location work well to shuttle CARTS buses in and out when snow piles up? Last, but certainly not least from a cost perspective, what does moving CARTS — which was the only public transportation that used the former train station — mean for the $6 million federal grant that could come due if the federal government comes to the conclusion that the city has violated the terms of the grant agreement?

CARTS needed a new home quickly. Pine Street worked as a temporary location in the summer but wouldn’t have worked once the snow starts to fly. We hope county officials haven’t rushed into a decision they may regret later.