The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded approximately 1.5 billion USD in funding to support 117 projects that will modernise the nation’s bus fleets and facilities.
This is the third round of funding from the President’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help modernise transit buses and build new technology with American workers.
In the past three years, the FTA has awarded nearly 5 billion USD to modernise buses, with US factories producing more than 4,600 of these vehicles.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said:Today, another 117 communities across 47 states are receiving the good news that their transit buses are being modernised and their commutes improved through President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Biden-Harris Administration is helping agencies replace old buses running on dirtier, expensive fuels by delivering modern and zero-emission buses, manufactured by American workers, that will connect more people to where they need to go.
About 80 percent of the buses being funded will run on zero or low-emission technology, reducing air pollution and advancing the President’s goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050.
This year’s selections also prioritised projects that will strengthen US bus manufacturing, stabilise the costs of new buses and accelerate the delivery of new vehicles.
Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said:Investing in low-emission and no-emission transit buses has emerged as a transformational pillar of President Biden's transportation emissions reductions strategy. This innovative and common-sense approach is already bolstering American manufacturing and creating good-paying union jobs – and it will safeguard the planet for future generations.
By modernising transit with improved clean energy technologies, we will also boost the longevity of our mass transportation system, reduce traffic congestion, and clean up the air we breathe in the neighbourhoods and communities that line our roads and highways.
Examples of projects benefitting from this funding include:
New Jersey Transit will receive 99.5 million USD to build a charging facility with a solar canopy at its Meadowlands Bus Garage.
The Sacramento Regional Transportation District will receive 76.8 million USD to buy up to 29 new hydrogen fuel cell buses, modernise a maintenance facility, and initiate a workforce development programme.
The Colorado Department of Transportation will receive 32.8 million USD to modernise the Glenwood Springs Operations and Maintenance Facility to support RFTA’s future zero-emission bus fleet.
The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) in Orlando will receive 27.6 million USD to buy up to 30 compressed natural gas buses.
The Shoshone Bannock Tribe will receive 722,400 USD to buy five buses and two vans to replace older vehicles. operating on the Fort Hall Reservation and into Pocatello, Blackfoot, and Power County, Idaho.
The complete list of FY24-funded projects can be found here.
