| SunLine Transit Agency | |
| Headquarters: | 32-505 Harry Oliver Trail Thousand Palms, California |
| Service Type: | bus service, paratransit |
| Routes: | 10 |
| Fleet: | 68 buses, 27 paratransit[1] |
| Ridership: | |
| Annual Ridership: | |
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.[2] [3] In, the system had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of .
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.[4]
The service area covers 1120mi2, 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)[5] and sells CNG and hydrogen to the public from dispensers at its Thousand Palms and Indio operations facilities, under the brand SunFuels.[6] [7]
| Route | Terminals | Via | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1EV | Coachella 5th St & Vine Av | Palm Desert Town Center wy & Hahn Rd | SR 111 | ||
| 1WV | Palm Springs Palm Canyon Dr & Stevens Rd | Palm Desert Town Center wy & Hahn Rd | SR 111 | ||
| 2 | Cathedral City B St & Buddy Rogers Av | Desert Hot Springs West Dr & Pierson Bl | Ramon Rd, Gene Autry Trail | ||
| 3 | Desert Hot Springs West Dr & Pierson Bl | Desert Edge Dillon Rd & Corkill Rd | Hacienda Av | ||
| 4 | Palm Springs El Cielo Rd & Kirk Douglas wy | Palm Desert Town Center wy & Hahn Rd | Vista Chino, Bob Hope Dr | ||
| 5 | Palm Desert Town Center wy & Hahn Rd | Desert Hot Springs West Dr & Pierson Bl | I-10 | ||
| 6 | Palm Desert Town Center wy & Hahn Rd | Coachella 5th St & Vine Av | Fred Waring Dr | ||
| 7 | La Quinta Calle Madrid & Avenida Vallejo | Palm Desert Harris Ln & Washington St | Washington St | ||
| 8 | Mecca 66th Av & Date Palm St | Indio Showcase Pkwy & Monroe St | SR 86, Jackson St | ||
| 9 | Mecca 66th Av & Date Palm St | North Shore Club View Dr & WIndlass Dr | 70th St | ||
| 10 Commuter Link | Indio Highway 111 & Golf Center Pkwy | San Bernardino San Bernardino Transit Center | I-10, SR-210 |
| |
Services operate weekdays only.
| Route | Terminals | Via | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | Desert Hot Springs West Dr & Pierson Bl | Gene Autry Trail | |||
| 500 | Palm Desert Cook St & University Park Dr | Cook St | |||
| 700 | La QuintaCalle Madrid & Avenida Vallejo | Palm DesertHarris Ln & Washington St | Washington St | ||
| 701 | La QuintaCalle Madrid & Avenida Vallejo | Washington St |
| ||
| 800 | IndioHighway 111 & Golf Center Pkwy | Jackson St | |||
| 801 | Indio Shadow Hills High School | Madison St |
| ||
| 802 | Indio Shadow Hills High School | Jackson St |
| ||
| 803 | Indio Avenue 44 & Jefferson St | Madison St |
| ||
Destinations served include:[8]
SunLine is governed by a board of directors with 10 members[9]
Chair
Vice Chair
Denise Delgado
Chief Executive Officer
Mona Babauta
The initial fleet included 22 buses in 1977. SunDial paratransit operations started in 1991.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] By that time, SunLine also had installed a HyRadix methane reformer to generate hydrogen.[13] 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.[14]
STA plans to convert their fleet to zero-emission buses (ZEB) by 2035, with only ZEBs purchased starting in 2021.[15] Due to the relatively long fixed routes, the final mix of ZEBs is expected to be mostly hydrogen fuel-cell buses.
| Make/Model | Fleet Numbers | Thumbnail | Year | Engine | Transmission | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Flyer XN40 | 622-627 | 2016 | Cummins Westport ISL G | ZF 6AP1400B | |||
| New Flyer XN40 | 628-637 | 2020 | Cummins Westport L9N | ZF 6AP1400B | |||
| ENC E-Z Rider II BRT CNG 32' | 710-719 | 2009 | Cummins Westport ISL G | ZF 6AP1400B | |||
| BYD K9M | 811-814 | 2019 | 2 x TYC-150A 150 kw (max) permanent magnet motor | 600 Ah Lithium iron phosphate batteries | |||
| MCI D4500CT CNG | 2007-2008 | 2020 | Cummins Westport ISX12N | Allison B500R |
| ||
| MCI D4505 | 2009 | 2017 | Cummins ISX12 | Allison B500R |
| ||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC3 | 2010 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC4 | 2014 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC5 | 2014 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC6 | 2015 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC7 | 2017 | US Hybrid FCe80 | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC8-FC12 | 2018 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| New Flyer XHE40 | FC14-FC18 | 2018 | Ballard FCvelocity HD85 | Siemens | |||
| ENC Axess BRT FC 40' | FC19 | 2015 | Ballard FCvelocity HD6 150 kW | BAE Systems Hybridrive | |||
| New Flyer XHE40 | FC20-FC24 | 2021 | Ballard FCvelocity HD85 | Siemens | |||
| New Flyer XHE40 | FC25-FC29 | 2021 | Ballard FCvelocity HD85 | Siemens |
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.[16] The HyRadix Adéo reformer was installed at the end of 2003.[17]