On March 21, San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD) broke ground on its $51.1 million regional transportation center (RTC), a facility that will improve transit in San Joaquin County.
The project is funded by the Federal Transit Administration, Measure K (the half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation projects in San Joaquin County), and the State of California Proposition 1B Program – putting tax dollars to work in a community that needs the work.
The RTC will replace an aging, overcrowded facility originally designed for a fleet of only 50 buses, less than half of RTD’s current fleet. Having expanded beyond the capacity of its current facilities, RTD requires a consolidated facility to maintain and expand efficient operations. The RTC will be built on the property RTD acquired as a temporary “overflow” site, where buses are parked and light maintenance is performed in a converted warehouse.
The RTC will improve operational efficiency and safety, and provide the required capacity needed to expand transportation services within San Joaquin County. A new fuel and wash building will accommodate servicing up to four buses simultaneously and will also support brake and tire repair.
These improvements will lower operating costs while enabling RTD to provide cleaner, better-maintained buses even more efficiently. RTD should be able to increase services on the street. The RTC will be built to consume less energy, thereby reducing environmental impacts while supporting regional public transit services.
Speakers at the event included: San Joaquin Council of Governments Executive Director Andrew T. Chesley; city of Stockton Vice Mayor Paul Canepa; Federal Transit Administration Region 9 Deputy Regional Administrator Edward Carranza; and RTD General Manager/CEO Donna DeMartino. Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) made the keynote address.
“RTD provides economic, air quality, and traffic reduction benefits for San Joaquin County,” McNerney said. “The new RTC is the kind of investment in our infrastructure that creates jobs and is a big part of getting our economy back on track. I’m proud to have helped bring home federal funding for this worthwhile project.”
“We’re proud to partner with San Joaquin RTD to offer residents the modern, efficient transit facilities they need to access jobs and other ladders of opportunity,” said Deputy Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan. “Throughout the United States, it’s vitally important that we invest in maintaining our existing public transportation infrastructure while expanding service to keep up with demand.”
“The Regional Transportation Center is one more way RTD is building a better transportation system for our region,” DeMartino said. “This project will benefit RTD immediately upon its completion, and will continue to benefit the community as a whole for decades to come through improved efficiencies and increased services.”
The RTC’s general contractor, McCarthy Building Companies Inc., is utilizing a design-build project delivery methodology to provide a facility that is sensitive to the cost objectives established by RTD. McCarthy is also implementing RTD’s desire to employ and subcontract to regional businesses and residents of San Joaquin County and the city of Stockton.
