Southern California transit veteran Connie Raya recently joined Omnitrans as director of maintenance.

Raya has over two decades of experience in public transit maintenance gained while working at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). At Omnitrans, she will oversee a department of 108 employees responsible for maintaining a fleet of 188 buses and 25 support vehicles as well as multiple agency facilities.

“I’m excited to join Omnitrans, and to be part of an organization striving to improve the lives of residents living and working in the community, helping to improve air quality and mobility, by providing clean, safe, and reliable transportation in the San Bernardino Valley,” said Raya.

Raya joined OCTA in 1993 working in the Commuter Services Department. After earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Redlands, Raya transitioned to maintenance as a Fleet Analyst. From there, Raya continued to gain experience and be promoted, working her way up to Maintenance Resource Manager in 2006.

In this role she was responsible for managing fleet assignments for revenue and non-revenue fleets, overseeing various maintenance systems used for asset management, timekeeping, and fluid management, along with overseeing the manpower deployment for the department

In recent years, Raya took on various special assignments including the management of the facilities group assigned to maintain five operating bases and seven transit centers. As a division Base Manager she oversaw a wide range of maintenance functions including rebuild, automotive, maintenance training, electronics, and the body shop.

In 2016, Raya completed her Master of Science in Transportation Management from the Norman Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University.  “Since then I have been searching for this type of opportunity to combine my experience and enthusiasm to make a significant contribution to a transit agency,” said Raya.