The San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA) recently celebrated the grand opening of its new $17 million bus operations and maintenance facility.

The facility was planned and designed by global design firm Stantec.

The facility was programmed to operate, service, and maintain RTA’s entire fleet and serve as the authority’s headquarters by containing administration, operations, and maintenance functions. The facility will house the approximately 65 transit vehicles that will dispatch from the main location. 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.

“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 RTA facility was designed to meet the requirements of California’s Green Building Code.

The building design includes:

• The elimination of operational use of fossil fuels on site,

• Maximized potential for photovoltaic power generation on the building roof and above vehicle parking,

• The utilization of ultra-local building materials, and

• Flexibility to accommodate a future all-electric vehicle fleet to be implemented by 2040.

“Stantec was an amazing partner to work with on this project. We are thrilled to have a facility that is both beautiful and functionally designed for our unique needs,” said Geoff Straw, 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.