San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority’s (RTA) $17 million bus operations and maintenance facility planned and designed by Stantec recently opened.
The facility plays an important role in San Luis Obispo RTA’s ability to deliver safe, reliable transit services for San Luis Obispo County, Calif.
In support of the agency’s wide coverage area, the facility was programmed to operate, service and maintain the authority’s entire fleet and serve as the headquarters—containing administration, operations and maintenance functions. The facility will house approximately 65 transit vehicles that will dispatch from the main location. San Luis Obispo RTA plans for a future fleet of 112 vehicles, the remainder of which will dispatch from smaller park-out facilities across the county.
The 27,500-square-foot facility includes five repair bays, a wash bay, parts storage, a training room, dispatch, offices and locker rooms. The facility—designed with efficiency and shared spaces in mind—reflects the authority’s close-knit, family atmosphere, and has a large, communal breakroom that opens to an employee patio.
“We worked closely with San Luis Obispo RTA to design a sustainable, high-performance facility that will help RTA continue to serve its community and support its workforce for the next several decades,” said Will Todd, Stantec project manager. “It’s especially satisfying to see the facility open and know RTA is well positioned for growth for its future battery-electric bus fleet.”
The facility was designed to meet the requirements of California’s Green Building Code. The sustainable building design includes:
- The elimination of operational use of fossil fuels on site—the building is entirely electric.
- Maximized potential for photovoltaic power generation on the building roof and above vehicle parking.
- The utilization of ultra-local building materials.
- Flexibility to accommodate a future all-electric vehicle fleet to be implemented by 2040.
“We are thrilled to have a facility that is both beautiful and functionally designed for our unique needs,” said Geoff Straw, San Luis Obispo RTA executive director. “This is the facility that will allow RTA to grow as well as evolve into the more electric-powered fleet of the near future.”
Stantec provided project management, architecture, civil engineering, survey, landscape architecture, mechanical and plumbing engineering, industrial architecture and telecom/security design on the project.
