More than 1,900 Surveys Completed as Agency Advances to Next Phase of Transit Planning
(Thousand Palms) – SunLine Transit Agency has successfully completed Phase 1 of its SunLine: Rides Reimagined initiative, marking a significant milestone in the agency’s effort to reimagine how SunLine Transit Agency provides public transit in the Coachella Valley.
The entire SunLine: Rides Reimagined process is composed of three public engagement phases. The first phase involved system and performance data gathering and analyses along with significant community engagement to understand better community sentiment towards SunLine, its services and amenities, and real-life customer experiences. Online and printed surveys in both English and Spanish were widely disseminated across communities, including all cities and unincorporated areas of the Coachella Valley, local tribes, schools, colleges, healthcare entities, and various other stakeholder groups. Both users and non-users of SunLine transit were invited to complete this survey.
In addition, staff delivered in-person presentations to councils representing the nine cities and unincorporated areas, senior centers, Rotary clubs, healthcare groups, and stakeholder focus groups to communicate the Agency’s interest in improving public transit service, explain the process for reimagining the system, and emphasize the importance of completing a survey. The response to the survey was strong, with more than 1,900 surveys completed, providing valuable insight into how the community uses — and wants to use — transit services.
“On behalf of SunLine, I want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to participate in our first round of public engagement,” said Mona Babauta, CEO/General Manager of SunLine Transit Agency. “The level of engagement we’ve seen reflects how much our community cares about the future of transit in the Coachella Valley.”
The data findings and public feedback in Phase 1 will inform the development of two proposed service concepts that will reflect two different ways of serving the Valley. One concept will be ridership focused, wherein the proposed system design will focus on maximizing ridership, mainly along higher traffic and more densely populated corridors, and to/from popular destinations for jobs, medical services, school, groceries, government services and shopping. The second concept will propose a coverage-based system designed to reach across the Valley and provide access to a greater number of citizens. Both concepts currently being developed will be constrained by currently known financial, staffing and equipment resources.
The second round of public engagement – to review and comment on the two proposed concepts – will begin in early May. This will include a second survey in English and Spanish, pop-up outreach events at locations such as bus stops, libraries and other public gathering spaces, as well as several community meetings. This second round will close by the end of June 2026, and the public is encouraged to follow the SunLine: Rides Reimagined webpage (https://www.sunline.org/rides-reimagined) for details on the process, community meeting dates and how to stay engaged.
Once feedback is collected from the community, staff plans to present the two concepts to the SunLine Board of Directors in July 2026 for feedback and direction. As soon as the Board takes action, the process will move into the third phase, which will involve the drafting of a final service plan.
SunLine: Rides Reimagined is a comprehensive, yearlong initiative designed to evaluate and enhance public transportation across the Coachella Valley by aligning services with the community’s evolving needs. For more information about SunLine Transit Agency and the SunLine: Rides Reimagined initiative, visit SunLine.org/rides-reimagined.