Sunline expands service between DHS and College of the Desert
Sunline is adding an electric bus, an expansion of service to Coachella, and an expedited route between College of the Desert and Desert Hot Springs in early 2016.
The transit agency says the “service changes are in response to the Agency’s outreach to its current ridership and other resources in the community.”
DHS Express Line
According to Sunline, the most anticipated change to service will be an “express line” from Desert Hot Springs to COD, which starts Monday.
“The new Line 20 will provide enhanced connections between the City of Desert Hot Springs and the City of Palm Desert and to Lines 14, 15, 32, 53, 54, and 111. This new service will cut passenger trip time in half through a 40 minute commute. The Line 20 also has a stop at Dinah Shore and Monterrey Avenue – making this route not only convenient for students traveling to and from COD, but also for Desert Hot Springs residents looking to travel to this popular commercial district and shopping area.”
In August 2014, Sunline announced they would add a new route in Desert Hot Springs to help COD commuters. Without the addition, the roundtrip took students up to five hours.
“You can go to Las Vegas in that time and I had to do that every day on the bus,” said COD studentKenda DeCastro. She got tired of commuting two and a half hours each way to get to class, so she enrolled only in online classes to avoid the draining ride on the bus.
Sunline applied for a grant through the Coachella Valley Association of Governments in order to make the route possible.
“We’ve allocated a $1.5 million to Sunline Transit in order to provide this high speed bus service between DHS and COD,” said Tom Kirk, CVAG President.
The daily service was expected to start in 2015, and provide four buses each morning and afternoon, however the grant was held up by the PEPRA Pension Reform Act, which delayed the expansion until now.
“Desert Hot Springs just got a whole lot closer to College of the Desert with SunLine’s Line 20 Express. This is big improvement in the lives of Desert Hot Springs college students,” said Councilman Russell Betts, the city’s representative on the SunLine Transit Agency Board. “A lot of people deserve credit for making this happen, so on behalf of our City, I’d like to extend a big thank you.”
Sunline says an electric bus will run on Line 20– the agency’s first. Hydrogen and American fuel cell buses are already part of the Sunline fleet. The long-range battery electric bus “is the first of its kind worldwide, producing zero emissions and the ability to operate 161 miles on a single charge,” reported Sunline in a Thursday news release.
Expanded East Valley Service
An expansion of the Line 111 into Coachella will also start on Sunday. “Previously, the Line 111 ended in Indio, but this additional service will take it on to Coachella with a stop at 5th Street and Vine. This will be for all trips of the Line 111, on all days,” reported Sunline.
“It’s an exciting time at SunLine Transit Agency as we roll out these service enhancements and incorporate electric busses into our fleet,” said Lauren Skiver, CEO/General Manager of SunLine Transit Agency. “We are frequently reaching out to the community and encouraging feedback on how we can improve service. These additions are in response to listening to the transit needs of our riders in the Coachella Valley, and we will continue to make service changes as necessary. It’s truly a team effort.”
For more information on routes and fares within the Coachella Valley – in addition to SunLine’s Commuter Link to Riverside, which connects to other routes and transit systems in Southern California – go to www.sunline.org
