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Council agrees to explore consolidation of Guadalupe transit service with Santa Maria Regional Transit
Summary
The council authorized staff to explore having Santa Maria Regional Transit take over Guadalupe’s local bus service; staff said consolidation could reduce administrative burden and deliver standardized training and equipment.
The Guadalupe City Council voted Jan. 28 to direct staff to explore a potential consolidation of the city’s transit service with Santa Maria Regional Transit (SMRT).
Jeff (city staff) and council members discussed an approach proposed by SMRT to consolidate smaller municipal services into a regional provider. Jeff explained the city’s current contract with Smooth (the current operator) expires at the end of the fiscal year and that Santa Maria Regional Transit has the capacity to provide drivers, training and maintenance; SMRT would purchase and maintain buses and run the service under a consolidated regional model. Jeff said SB CAG (San Luis Obispo / Santa Barbara regional agency) staff support the concept and that it could reduce the administrative and reporting burden on a small agency like Guadalupe.
Council members asked about local job impacts, contracting, and how federal grant funds would be handled. Jeff said drivers could potentially be retained and trained by SMRT, but the detailed financial and operational impacts — such as whether Guadalupe would still be the recipient of federal funds or would pass them through to SMRT — would be part of a future study.
The council adopted Resolution 2025-09 to begin a formal exploration and directed staff to return with analysis and terms before any final change would be made. Council members raised the prospect of economies of scale, electric-bus opportunities, and microtransit pilots; staff said those topics would be part of the study and regional discussions with SMRT.
