Pasadena to Consider Putting Wi-Fi and Live Arrival Displays on Every City Bus

Every bus in Pasadena’s active transit fleet would carry public Wi-Fi and real-time digital route displays under a proposal the City Council is scheduled to consider Monday, July 20 — an upgrade the Department of Transportation says would be paid for with local Proposition A/C Local Return funds that a $2,400,000 Metro grant frees up by offsetting bus-purchase costs, with no impact to the General Fund. 

Today, according to the staff report, only about 30% of the active fleet is equipped with the city’s public Wi-Fi and digital route communications. 

The 17 incoming zero-emission buses would raise that to more than 70%, and the proposed contract amendment would retrofit the remaining roughly 30% so that riders could expect the same technology on any bus they board. 

Delivering that fleetwide standard is the practical stake in an otherwise technical agenda item: a $1,757,342 amendment to Contract No. 31918 with Connexionz Ltd. that would raise the agreement’s not-to-exceed ceiling to $3,155,951, including a base amount of $2,996,193 and a contingency of $159,758, or 5.3%, for change orders. Forwarded by the Finance Committee and prepared by the Department of Transportation, the item is a preview of the upcoming meeting, and the City Council holds final authority over whether it is approved. 

The amendment also carries a public-safety component. The staff report says onboard security cameras would be transitioned to a new system that would maximize interior visual coverage and give emergency responders real-time interior visibility during critical incidents. The proposal would additionally fund seven new solar-powered e-ink arrival displays at bus stops. 

If approved, the amendment would fund onboard hardware for 25 new zero-emission vehicles: 17 Pasadena Transit buses authorized in August 2025 and scheduled for delivery in 2027, and eight Pasadena Dial-A-Ride vehicles — one prepared for immediate delivery and seven ordered on May 18, with delivery expected in early 2027. The staff report says the city must now buy this equipment directly through Connexionz because New Flyer of America and Connexionz no longer partner on factory integrations, an approach staff say eliminates third-party markups and is ultimately less costly. 

The dollars trace to a regional grant. The proposal is the second half of a package split on July 13, when the Council accepted $2,400,000 in Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Zero-Emission Vehicle Call for Projects grant funding — awarded May 28 — and approved the associated environmental finding. Action on the contract amendment and remaining budget items was deferred to July 20 so it could follow the Municipal Services Committee’s July 14 review of the city’s five-year Short Range Transit Plan. 

That grant does heavy lifting on a major capital buy. The 17-vehicle procurement, authorized in August 2025 with New Flyer of America, carries a total cost of $32,050,255; the Metro award reduces the city’s direct local commitment for that purchase to $595,249, or 1.9% of the total. The original Connexionz contract, for the Transit Vehicle Arrival Information System, was authorized in October 2020 at a not-to-exceed amount of $1,533,220. 

Under the recommended budget changes, the $2,400,000 grant would be appropriated to the Pasadena Transit Buses capital project, while $1,225,034 in Proposition A/C Local Return funds would be freed from the same project and redirected to other transit-technology work. The proposal would also amend the Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Improvement Program budget. Staff report that roughly $642,658 in unappropriated Proposition A/C Local Return funds would remain to help meet local matching requirements for future phases of the fleet transition. The item was prepared by Principal Planner Sebastián Andrés Hernández and submitted by Transportation Director Joaquin T. Siques. 

The Pasadena City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 20, in the Council Chamber, Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit  https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.