Agenda Item: 12
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: August 25, 2026
SUBJECT: TRANSFER OF COMMUTER BUSES
DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
PRESENTER: Adrian Aguilar
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Waive the City of Santa Clarita’s competitive procurement requirements for the transfer of three buses from the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and the associated contracts with Complete Coach Works and Connexionz, pursuant to Santa Clarita Municipal Code Section 3.12.270(F).
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to negotiate a transfer and reimbursement agreement with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System for three Motor Coach Industries (MCI) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, for a not-to-exceed amount of $300,000, subject to Federal Transit Administration approval.
3. Authorize staff to negotiate and enter into a contract with Complete Coach Works to remove the existing paint scheme and prepare and paint the three buses in the Santa Clarita Transit livery, in an amount not-to-exceed $119,928, and authorize a contingency in the amount of $10,000, for a total contract amount of $129,928.
4. Authorize staff to negotiate and enter into a contract with Connexionz for the purchase and installation of automatic vehicle locating systems for the three buses, for a not-to-exceed amount of $56,627.
5. Appropriate funds in the amount of $486,555 to the Transit Administration Automotive Equipment Expenditure Account (7003700-520103), and increase the Municipal Operator Service Improvement Program Revenue Account (700-442207) by $386,555.
6. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, subject to City Attorney review.
BACKGROUND
Santa Clarita Transit (Transit) has a fleet replacement program that meets the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 12-year life cycle for commuter buses. Three of the City of Santa Clarita's (City) commuter buses have reached the end of their useful life and are scheduled to be replaced over the next 12 months.
The City's commuter fleet is composed of diesel and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered buses as required by the Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The AQMD regulations prohibit the City from purchasing new diesel-powered buses and require public agencies to procure low- or zero-emission buses.
Federal Buy America regulations require that any bus purchased with federal funds have a minimum of 70 percent of its components manufactured in the United States. In late 2023, Motor Coach Industries (MCI), the only manufacturer of CNG-powered commuter buses that meet Buy America requirements, announced it would no longer manufacture CNG-powered buses to shift their resources to designing and manufacturing battery-electric commuter buses.
As part of the City’s Zero Emission Transition Plan, the City evaluated the use of battery-electric buses for its commuter service and determined that multiple factors such as vehicle cost, range, reliability, and charging infrastructure requirements did not make battery-electric commuter buses a viable option.
In early June 2026, the City was contacted by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) inquiring if the City would like to assume federally-funded CNG commuter buses. MTS has three 2021 CNG-powered MCI commuter buses with fewer than 100,000 miles that are no longer needed due to reductions in MTS’s commuter service.
The FTA’s regulations allow FTA grant recipients to transfer federally funded assets, such as buses, to other FTA grantees as long as they assume all grant and reporting responsibilities.
In exchange, MTS has requested that the City reimburse them for the depreciated portion of the bus funded with local dollars. This is $100,000 per vehicle.
By assuming responsibility for the federally-funded portion and reimbursing MTS for the depreciated locally-funded cost of the vehicles, the City will be able to replace older diesel buses that have reached the end of their useful life. This transfer also creates a significant savings for the City as the cost of a new battery-electric commuter bus is well over $1,000,000 and the fair market value of the buses is approximately $400,000 each. Staff inspected the three buses and determined they have been adequately maintained and have an additional seven years and 400,000 miles of useful life before they would be scheduled for retirement.
As part of this transfer, MTS has requested that the City remove the MTS logos and paint scheme from the buses immediately upon delivery. In addition, the City would have to paint the vehicles in Transit’s livery and procure and install City-specific electronics such as the vehicle tracking, camera, and fare-collection systems.
Staff requested a quote from Complete Coach Works (CCW) located in Riverside, California, to have the existing paint stripped and the buses repainted in the Transit livery. The City has contracted with CCW in the past to do similar work, and the quote provided for this project is within industry standards. Ensuring minimal delays in adding these buses to the City’s transit fleet, CCW can begin the work immediately. The requested contingency is to address unknown bus body issues such as rust or salt corrosion.
City staff also requested a quote from Connexionz for the purchase and installation of the vehicle-tracking hardware. The quote provided was in line with the cost of having the equipment installed by the bus manufacturer and is within industry standards.
Prior to being approached by MTS, City staff was considering issuing a Request for Proposal to refurbish the three buses scheduled to be retired, since replacement CNG commuter buses are no longer produced and electric commuter buses do not meet the City’s service needs. This refurbishment would include the installation of a new engine and transmission, replacement of safety components such as brakes, tires, suspension, new paint, and electronics. The initial estimate for the refurbishment was $450,000 per vehicle.
Given the unique opportunity to acquire these buses, the need to place them into service promptly, and the specialized work required to integrate them into the City’s existing transit fleet, staff recommends that the City Council find that it is in the public interest and necessity to proceed with the transfer from MTS and the associated outfitting contracts with CCW and Connexionz without competitive solicitation, and waive the applicable competitive procurement requirements pursuant to Santa Clarita Municipal Code Section 3.12.270(F).
If approved, this vehicle transfer would allow the City to retire buses that have reached the end of their useful life and eliminate the need to refurbish buses at this time.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Upon approval of the recommended actions, sufficient funding will be available in the Transit Administration Automotive Equipment Expenditure Account (7003700-520103) and Municipal Operator Service Improvement Program Revenue Account (700-442207).