SunLine Transit Agency is a transit operator in Riverside County, California, United States, providing bus service to more than 3.5 million passengers per year in the Palm Springs Area. Service extends into San Bernardino Transit Center during peak hours. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

History and description SunLine Transit Agency (STA) was established under a Joint Powers Agreement, initially between Riverside County and Coachella Valley cities (Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs) on July 1, 1977. Cathedral City, Indian Wells, La Quinta, and Rancho Mirage were added later. Each of the nine member cities selects one member of the SunLine Board of Directors, with the tenth provided by Riverside County.

The service area covers , bounded approximately by the San Gorgonio Pass on the west and the Salton Sea on the southeast. In addition to its transit operations, SunLine regulates local taxi services (as the SunLine Regulatory Administration, a division of the SunLine Services Group) and sells CNG and hydrogen to the public from dispensers at its Thousand Palms and Indio operations facilities, under the brand SunFuels.

Routes

Local routes RouteTerminalsViaNotes1EVCoachella 5th Street, Vine Avenue Palm Desert Town Center Way, Hahn RoadSR 1111WVPalm Springs Palm Canyon Drive, Stevens RoadPalm Desert Town Center Way, Hahn RoadSR 1112Cathedral City B Street, Buddy Rogers AvenueDesert Hot Springs West Drive, Pierson BoulevardRamon Road, Gene Autry Trail Serves Palm Springs International Airport3Desert Hot Springs West Drive, Pierson BoulevardDesert Edge Dillon Road, Corkill RoadHacienda Avenue4Palm Springs El Cielo Road and Kirk Douglas WayPalm Desert Town Center Way, Hahn RoadVista Chino, Bob Hope Drive5Palm Desert Town Center Way, Hahn Road Desert Hot Springs West Drive, Pierson BoulevardI-106Palm Desert Town Center Way, Hahn RoadCoachella 5th Street, Vine AvenueFred Waring Drive7La Quinta Calle Madrid & Avenida VallejoPalm Desert Harris Lane, Washington StreetWashington Street8Mecca 66th Avenue, Date Palm StreetIndio Showcase Parkway, Monroe StreetSR 86, Jackson Street9Mecca 66th Avenue, Date Palm StreetNorth Shore Club View Drive, Windlass Drive70th Street10 Commuter LinkIndio Highway 111, Golf Center ParkwaySan Bernardino San Bernardino Transit CenterI-10, SR 210 Serves Cal State San Bernardino

School Tripper routes Services operate weekdays only. RouteTerminalsViaNotes200Desert Hot Springs West Drive, Pierson BoulevardGene Autry Trail To Palm Springs High School500Palm Desert Cook Street, University Park DriveCook Street To The Shops At Palm Desert700La Quinta Calle Madrid & Avenida VallejoPalm Desert Harris Lane, Washington StreetWashington Street701La Quinta Calle Madrid, Avenida VallejoWashington Street To Harris Lane and Washington Street800Indio Highway 111, Golf Center ParkwayJackson Street To Shadow Hills High School801Indio Shadow Hills High SchoolMadison Street To Jackson Street and Avenue 44802Indio Shadow Hills High SchoolJackson Street To Highway 111 and Golf Center Parkway803Indio Avenue 44, Jefferson StreetMadison Street To Shadow Hills High School

Destinations Destinations served include:

Agua Caliente Casino Agua Caliente Cultural Museum National Date Festival Fairgrounds Indian Wells Tennis Garden Palm Springs Air Museum Indio High School La Quinta High School Palm Desert High School Palm Springs High School Cathedral City High School Rancho Mirage High School Desert Memorial Park Eisenhower Medical Center Westfield Palm Desert McCallum Theater College of the Desert Palm Springs Aerial Tramway California State University, San Bernardino San Bernardino Transit Center

Governance SunLine is governed by a board of directors with 10 members 1 City Council member From Palm Springs 1 City Council member from the 9 cities in the Palm Springs Area that are not Palm Springs City. 1 from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, that represents the Palm Springs Area (District 4)

Chair

Nancy Ross

Vice Chair

Lynn Mallotto

Chief Executive Officer

Mona Babauta

Facilities and bus fleet

The initial fleet included 22 buses in 1977. SunDial paratransit operations started in 1991. The SunLine Board of Directors adopted a resolution in 1992 to convert their fleet to alternative fuel, and became the first transit agency in the United States to do so in 1994, using compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.

Starting in 2000, SunLine began limited operations with hydrogen fuel cell buses, installing a hydrogen fuel station using a Stuart Energy electrolyzer to supply the XCELLSiS ZEbus for a 13-month trial. The first revenue operations were conducted with the Thor/ISE ThunderPower fuel cell bus, using an ElDorado National EZ-Rider II chassis, between November 2002 to February 2003. By that time, SunLine also had installed a HyRadix methane reformer to generate hydrogen. SunLine tested a hydrogen hybrid internal combustion engine (HHICE) bus in early 2005; the bus was subsequently sent to Winnipeg Transit for cold weather testing.

STA plans to convert their fleet to zero-emission buses (ZEB) by 2035, with only ZEBs purchased starting in 2021. Due to the relatively long fixed routes, the final mix of ZEBs is expected to be mostly hydrogen fuel-cell buses.

Active fleet Make/Model Fleet numbersThumbnail Year EngineTransmissionNotesNew Flyer C40LF575-5942007Cummins Westport ISL G EPA07ZF 5HP594CNew Flyer C40LF601-6212008Cummins Westport ISL G EPA07ZF 5HP594CNew Flyer XN40622-6272016Cummins Westport ISL G EPA13ZF 6AP1400BNew Flyer XN40628-6372020Cummins Westport L9N EPA17ZF 6AP1420BGillig BRT CNG 40'638-6522013Cummins Westport ISL G EPA13Allison B400RBYD K9M 811–81420192 x TYC-150A 150 kW (max) permanent magnet motor600 Ah Lithium iron phosphate batteries MCI D4500CT CNG 2007–2008 2020 Cummins Westport ISX12N EPA17Allison B500R Used only on Route 10 Commuter Link MCI D4500CT CNG 20102023 Cummins Westport ISX12N EPA21Allison B500R Used only on Route 10 Commuter Link ENC Axess BRT FC 40' FC8-FC12 2018 Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kWBAE Systems Hybridrive New Flyer XHE40 FC14-FC18 2018 Ballard FCvelocity HD85Siemens ELFA2 ENC Axess BRT FC 40' FC192015Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kWBAE Systems Hybridrive* Ex Orange County Transportation Authority 1101, Acquired in May 2022.New Flyer XHE40FC20-FC242021Ballard FCvelocity HD85Siemens ELFA2New Flyer XHE40FC25-FC292022Ballard FCvelocity HD85Siemens ELFA2New Flyer XHE40FC30-FC372024Ballard FCMove-HD+Siemens ELFA3

SunLine has two operations and maintenance facilities: one (including the administrative offices) in Thousand Palms, and another in Indio. , on-site refueling and charging capabilities include an electrolyzer that can produce of hydrogen at Thousand Palms, which came online in 2019, and six 80 kW AC/DC battery-electric bus chargers, three each at both Thousand Palms and Indio. Hydrogen dispensers (using delivered liquid ) and additional chargers are planned for both facilities.

Hydrogen production started in November 2000. Two electrolyzers and a natural gas reformer were part of the initial installation. One electrolyzer, supplied by Teledyne Brown, generated per hour using 7.5 kW of electricity, supplied by solar panels; the other electrolyzer, supplied by Stuart Energy, produced per hour. The reformer produced per hour. The HyRadix Adéo reformer was installed at the end of 2003.

References

External links