Named after long-time western Massachusetts congressman John Olver, the hub is the first zero net energy transit center in the United States.

[1] Built with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, the facility was constructed with solar panels, geothermal wells, copper heat screens and other energy efficient technologies.

Passenger amenities available at the JWO Transit Center are an indoor waiting area, rest rooms, public WiFi service and bicycle racks.

[5] The Connecticut River Railroad (CRRR) opened to passenger service between Springfield and Northampton in late 1845; trains reached Deerfield in August 1846, Greenfield in December 1847, and the junction with the Central Vermont Railway in January 1849.

[6] Service east from Greenfield to Boston was started by the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad in 1851, and was extended west to Troy, New York through the Hoosac Tunnel in 1875.

The former Boston and Maine passenger station was situated on the east side of the Connecticut River Line tracks slightly north of the JWO Transit Center.

Long-distance passenger service over the Connecticut River Line ended on September 6, 1966 with the discontinuing of the Pennsylvania Railroad and New Haven's earlier version of the Montrealer.