Pasadena moved forward with a new transit operations and maintenance facility Tuesday, authorizing a nearly $11.2 million contract as the city races to vacate its leased bus yard before a 2028 deadline.
The contract with PCL Construction Services Inc. to build a facility near Foothill Boulevard and Walnut Street that will house Pasadena Transit’s buses and dial-a-ride fleet, in addition to being equipped with charging infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. The agreement covers preconstruction, design-assist and guaranteed maximum price development work, early demolition and site preparation.
The existing facility at 303 N. Allen Ave. is leased, and the owner has set a drop-dead date of June 30, 2028, forcing the relocation. The new facility will include on-site renewable energy, with roughly 36,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels generating 600 kilowatts, along with water conservation and wash-water reclamation features.
A substantive council debate centered on how much of the work should go to local workers. Staff proposed a contractual 10% commitment for Pasadena-area labor, with an aspirational goal of 15% of labor hours, but Councilman Tyron Hampton pushed to raise the target.
“I’m not asking for 50%, 20% is small in comparison to the the scale of the project,” Hampton said.
“In LA, I believe they do 20% across the board,” he added. “These are … not mandates, they’re just goals. For us to achieve that goal, having a very low goal of 10% … I think a lot of people could do that.”
The council ultimately approved a motion setting a 20% aspirational local hire goal across local hire hours, local vendors and local materials, with Pasadena as the top tier for determining locality.
Public Works Director Greg DeVink cautioned that setting goals too high could push costs up.
“If you have 20% local procurement and they just can’t get 20% here, they’re going to overpay to make that happen,” Devink said.
Councilman Rick Cole was concerned that PCL has now won roughly $303 million in city construction work, including the Rose Bowl Field Club and the Central Library retrofit.
“It doesn’t look great from my perspective, which is why I raised the questions,” Cole said, adding that the candor of Devink’s team had earned his trust and that he would support the item despite his discomfort.
Cole noted PCL won a $26 million contract to build the Rose Bowl Field Club, a $186 million deal to retrofit the Central Library, “and now we’re in phase one of a $91 million contract to build this transportation center.”
The project carries a $100 million budget, with $72.6 million appropriated and a forecast total cost of $91 million, leaving an additional $18.4 million to be secured from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
PCL was selected from five proposals, scoring 127 points out of 150 in a unanimous selection, city staff reported.
The city’s website has more information on the proposed fleet facility.
The council also approved in a 5-2 vote with Councilman Stave Madison absent a $500,000 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates to develop a multimodal connectivity plan for the Rose Bowl area and Brookside Park, funded through a state transportation grant with a local match. The contract criticism from several council members Cole and Hampton and several residents who questioned spending on another plan rather than implementing existing recommendations.
The AI platform Civilio assisted this report.
