News

San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority Secures Loan with the United States Department of Transportation to Finance a New Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility

 San Luis Obispo, CA  September 15, 2020

The San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has secured a $13.1 Million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Loan with the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) to finance the construction of a new operations and maintenance facility (Project).  The recent RTA Board approval and financial close of the TIFIA Loan mark the culmination of a comprehensive funding strategy for the Project, also comprised of Federal and State grant funds and an interim and permanent loan facility with Pacific Western Bank.

The TIFIA Loan will fund 49% of the $26.7 Million total Project costs, which includes expenditures related to land purchase, environmental, and design in addition to construction.

Securing the TIFIA Loan is an important milestone for the RTA’s Project and also for the U.S. DOT.   The Project was the first to qualify and receive TIFIA Loan assistance under the Rural Project Initiative (RPI).  RPI is an important initiative of the U.S. DOT designed to encourage greater utilization of the TIFIA Program for projects in communities with a population of less than 150,000 and that have a total cost of under $75 million.  The RPI program authorizes credit assistance for such projects and offers an interest rate that is fifty percent (50%) of the comparable treasury rate, which in today’s low interest rate market is under 1% for a 35-year loan.

After locking-in a TIFIA Loan rate of 0.70% on September 3, the fixed, equal annual repayment requirement over a 35-year term is less than the RTA’s annual lease payments on their current facility.  Geoff Straw, RTA Executive Director, stated “We are grateful for the partnership between the RTA and US DOT under the TIFIA/RPI borrowing program to finance this important Project for our organization. The ability to finance and construct the new facility allows the RTA to continue our mission of providing safe, reliable and efficient transportation services that improve and enhance the quality of life for the citizens and visitors of San Luis Obispo County.”

KNN Public Finance, LLC, a municipal advisory firm, advised and assisted the RTA with the acquisition of the loan. “After a detailed analysis of borrowing options, the TIFIA/RPI program offered the RTA significantly reduced borrowing costs relative to public and private market alternatives.  As the financial impact of the COVID pandemic has been particularly acute for transit agencies, the RTA’s ability to borrow under the RPI program offers important budgetary benefits over the near-term and longer-term horizon,” said Melissa Shick, Director at KNN and advisor to the RTA. Also, Nossaman LLP served as special finance counsel.

The new facility will be located along US Highway 101 at the northbound Prado Street exit. It will be 28,650 square feet and will house transit operations, administration, dispatch, and vehicle maintenance. This includes bus parking for much of the RTA fleet and the site will also allow for future inclusion of battery electric bus chargers and a solar canopy. The Project broke ground in July 2020 and construction is expected to be completed by December 2021. San Luis Obispo based Specialty Construction was awarded the construction contract.

May 12, 2025

RTA Board Approves Short Range Transit Plan Recommendations for Operational Changes

on May 7, the RTA Board approved a set of recommendations that came as a result of the Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP). Changes were amended based on rider feedback and public outreach efforts by the RTA. The following changes will be implemented effective August 10, 2025

ROUTE 10
1.  The Route 10 will only serve the Marian Loop in the northbound direction throughout the day, eliminating the Marian Loop on all southbound Route 10 runs except the 5:33PM  Route 10 departure from SLO.
2.  The 7:33 PM and the 8:33 PM weekday southbound departures from the SLO Government Center will end service in Nipomo
3. Change the 6:03 AM Route 10 weekday southbound trip to a passenger carrying trip and not a deadhead
ROUTE 9
Add Cal Poly to the Route 9 southbound 11:05 AM trip, arriving at Cal Poly at 12:17 PM
ROUTE A
Add Route A service on Saturday
SCHOOL TRIPPERS
Add school tripper service in Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande
ROUTE 27 & 28 REALIGNMENT
27 & 28 will change their path to travelling via 9th Street to Atlantic City and out to Oak Park to reach more potential riders in that neighborhood.
The following changes to the fare system will take place later in the Fall of 2025:
1. Change from Intercity Zone-Based Cash Fare to a Flat Cash Fare with the cash fares changing to $2.00 per boarding Regular and $1.00 Discounted
The cash fare will change only on Routes 9,10,12 and 15
2. Implement the Cal-ITP Open-Loop Contactless Fare-Capping System. This is the “Tap to Pay” system
3. Implement a Discount Fare Verification Process to reduce fare evasion and improve average fares collected per passenger

July 15, 2024

RTA Introduces new Zero Emission Electric Buses in Service

July 11, 2024:  On Monday July 15th, the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA) brings into service their first two battery electric buses (BEBs) bringing the agency closer to meeting California’s public transit electrification mandate.

RTA will run the new zero-emission electric buses on Route 12 that travels from downtown San Luis Obispo to Morro Bay and Los Osos. “RTA will continue to find ways to make our transportation fleet greener and cleaner, while still providing reliable service across our county.” Said RTA executive director Geoff Straw.

These fully electric buses are manufactured by GILLIG, which is a California based company. The RTA is committed to ensuring that BEBs can deliver the same standard of reliability and service as our diesel and gasoline powered vehicles.  In recent years, the transit industry has witnessed significant progress in battery-electric technology.

Battery electric vehicles cost less to power than diesel fuel buses, they are quieter and run without producing fuel emissions. Leading up to this launch, the RTA has been working with PG&E to complete and update the charging infrastructure needed to power our new battery electric fleet. Each bus takes about four hours to charge. Gillig estimates that each bus has a range of 240 miles on a single charge. RTA estimates savings of about $105,000 in diesel fuel and another $125,000 in maintenance costs over the life of the buses. The 40-foot buses were paid for using federal and state funding and cost approximately $1.4 M each. RTA has five additional electric buses on order which we expect to arrive in 2025.

Questions?

For more information, please contact the RTA:

(805) 781-4472
info@slorta.org

253 Elks Lane
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401