San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has opened the East County Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility, located in El Cajon, which will help the region continue to reduce air pollution and will be home to 120 clean-burning CNG buses. Moreover, a new natural gas fueling station on site will allow the agency to phase out the existing diesel-fueled buses and replace them with more NGVs.
“MTS is focused on improving all facets of our business to improve efficiency, reliability, passenger amenities and the air we breathe,” said MTS CEO Paul Jablonski. “The new East County Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility helps us achieve all those goals.”
The 34,500-square-foot maintenance building and 10,275-square-foot administrative building involved an investment of $38 million from MTS funds, a Federal Transit Administration competitive grant secured by MTS, Transit Development Act (state) and State Transit Assistance Program funds. The construction contractor was Clark Construction.
“Continuing our county-wide successes in reducing pollution requires the type of investment and forward thinking that MTS is bringing to this fight,” said SANDAG Board Chair Ron Roberts, who also sits on the California Air Resources Board. “Bringing CNG to East County at a modern, energy efficient facility is exactly what our region needs for air quality improvements.”
The new facility serves East County’s urbanized area along the Interstate 8 corridor, as well as rural and unincorporated areas in the county. It employs 115 bus operators and 14 mechanics who will provide bus service for more than 4 million riders annually. Its energy-efficient designs and equipment include on-site renewable energy, LED lighting, reflective windows, water use reduction techniques, drought-tolerant landscaping and temperature control technology. All these features will help the facility secure LEED Silver status by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Source: San Diego MTS
