Napa debuts new $40 million transportation facility with eye to future

The Napa Valley Transportation Authority has taken a big step toward a greener future.

The agency’s new $40 million maintenance and administration facility opened last month and has since proven beneficial to employees who previously dealt with cramped quarters, according to officials.

“We had a very small maintenance facility,” said Rebecca Schenck, the agency’s transit program manager. “Previously we just had three bays and we didn’t have a working bus wash.”

The new building will ultimately impact residents, she said, as it will allow for cleaner buses on the streets, a more dependable bus system and the ability to transition to electric vehicles.

Construction on the new Vine Transit Maintenance Facility, which sits on 8 acres along Sheehy Court in Napa, broke ground in January 2022. There was a need for a larger, more modern building to expand and maintain transit services.

The facility is now home to 75 buses and offers six maintenance bays, all of which are equipped for hydrogen fuel — whenever the zero-emission energy source becomes available in Napa.

It also includes 12 electric chargers for the agency’s fleet of seven electric buses, a bus wash station and improved workspaces for more than 100 Vine Transit employees.

According to the Napa Valley Transportation Authority, the project was one of only three in the country to receive a loan from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Rural Project Initiative.

The facility has plans to add solar panels, Schenck said, along with a net zero energy photovoltaic system this summer that will provide an additional power source.

Transportation officials said they hope the facility’s new parking lot, multiple kitchens and wellness room also attract potential employees as the agency expands for the future.

“We just overall hope that our workforce will be in a better position mentally,” Schenck said. “They have bathrooms, they have their own lockers, they have split shifts that give them the chance to rest.”