MTS Opens $38M Bus Facility in El Cajon

Oct. 12, 2016

Mark Schumann, Clark Construction; Duane Eskierka, Transdev; Councilman Tony Ambrose, City of El Cajon; MTS Boardmember George Gastil (City of Lemon Grove); Harry Mathis, MTS board chair; Leann Files, Office of Assemblyman Brian Jones; Jeff Domenech, Office of State Senator Joel Anderson; Eric Lund, San Diego East Chamber of Commerce; Ron Roberts, SANDAG chair; Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer; Mike Woiwode, MTS boardmember (City of Coronado); Gary Gallegos, SANDAG executive director.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) celebrated the grand opening of the East County Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility, furthering the agency’s role in improving regional air quality. The facility, which was built to LEED Silver standards, will be home to 120 clean-burning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.

“MTS is focused on improving all facets of our business to improve efficiency, reliability, passenger amenities and the air we breathe,” said MTS Chief Executive Officer Paul Jablonski. “The new East County Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility helps us achieve all those goals.”

A new CNG fueling station on site will allow MTS to replace diesel-fueled buses with CNG-fueled buses, which provide a 50 percent reduction in NOx emissions, an 85 percent reduction in particulate matter pollution and an 89 percent decrease in CO emissions.

The 34,500-square-foot maintenance building and 10,275-square-foot administrative building sit on 5.5 acres at 544 Vernon Way in the city of El Cajon. It was built at a cost 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.

In addition to the East County facility, MTS has several sites from which it operates fixed-route bus service including Chula Vista, Kearny Mesa and East Village.

Project details include: