Thanks to advance funding from the Ventura County Transportation Commission, Simi Valley’s bus fueling facility will be upgraded this year despite the state’s financial woes.

The city of Moorpark will reap the benefits, too.

In March, the VCTC dedicated nearly $1.3 million in state Proposition 1B Public Transportation Modernization, Improvement and Service Enhancement funds for a project to upgrade Simi Valley Transit’s compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility at 490 W. Los Angeles Ave.

Passed by voters in November 2006, Prop. 1B authorizes the use of state general obligation bonds for transportation infrastructure, including grants for transit system safety, security and disaster response projects.

According to city staff, the project is a “top priority” for the city’s transit system and will effectively expand fueling capacity, decrease city utility costs and in- crease the system’s fuel reliability.

The project was slated to be completed before the city of Moorpark’s planned use of the CNG facility when its new fixedroute buses begin operating this fall.

However, the release of Prop. 1B funds has been delayed for up to a year or more due to state funding issues. In order to move forward with the project as scheduled, the Simi Valley City Council approved a cooperative agreement with the VCTC on Monday to provide advance State Transit Assistance (STA) funding.

Once the Prop. 1B funds are released they will be used to reimburse the VCTC for the advance STA funds.

The $1.3-million project includes installing two designated fast-fill fueling stalls and six highpressure fuel-dispensing storage vessels, as well as upgrading 26 CNG gas dispensers.

The current CNG fueling facility was built in 1998 and uses older technology and a slow-fill system, and it does not have fuel storage capacity. As a result, fueling buses and other vehicles can take several hours, with compressors being run during peak utility hours. Installing fuel storage vessels will reduce utility costs by enabling vessels to be filled during non-peak hours.

Councilmember Steve Sojka, who sits on the commission as the city’s representative, thanked his VCTC counterparts for being supportive of the project and unanimously advancing the funds.

He said it is truly a regional project since the council, in June of last year, approved an agreement with the city of Moorpark to allow its buses to fuel up at the Simi Valley Transit Facility. Moorpark is in the process of transitioning from diesel to CNG buses and expects to receive delivery of three new CNG buses this fall.

“(This project) is not only going to fuel our buses but also the city of Moorpark’s, so we’re working together with our sister city, and that’s a good thing,” Sojka said.