SunLine Dedicates Maintenance Bay Expansion

The Maintenance Bay Expansion, Solar Panel Parking area for buses, and state of the art Bus Tracking and Commuter Planning Systems funded with grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) were unveiled to the public yesterday

(Thousand Palms, CA) – Mayor Eduardo Garcia, Chairman of the SunLine Transit Agency Board of Directors welcomed guests to the ceremony dedicating SunLine’s state of the art Maintenance Bay Expansion.  Built with stimulus funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Maintenance Bay Expansion features two bus bays, two lifts, a misting system to counter the hot weather, new equipment for oil changes, and other bus repair and maintenance tasks.  Chairman Garcia stated that the new facility and equipment would help keep the SunLine buses in top condition for service to the bus riders in the Coachella Valley.

After the dedication and unveiling of the building plaque, Board Members and guests boarded the bus with SunLine General Manager, C. Mikel Oglesby, to see the new bus parking area on the north side of the property that has 16 solar panel bus structures and 16 open air parking spaces.  Maintenance Director, Tommy Edwards explained that additional grant funding has been requested to purchase and install the solar panels. Oglesby said, ”The ARRA funds made it possible for us to build upon and expand much needed services and facilities needed to continue to provide public transit to our communities.”

After viewing the bus parking area, the group convened in the Board Room to see the new Intelligent Transportation Systems utilized by the Agency to provide improved transportation services to the public and to assist the planning and development of bus routes and schedules, time reporting and other data needed for effective and efficient operations of the transportation system.  InfoPoint is a bus tracking system that riders can use via their Smart phones or the internet to determine the exact location of the bus and SunLine Dispatchers can manage the buses from the dispatch center.  Google Transit is a commuter planning tool that will help riders plan their trips throughout the Valley. 

“Each of the new technologies further enhances our abilities to meet the needs of our riding public.  We are looking forward to keeping pace with innovations in the industry as funding opportunities are presented”, stated Oglesby.

posted August 24, 2011