U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) announced Friday that 17 California transit agencies will receive more than $236 million in U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) grants for transitioning to zero-emission buses.
The funding, provided through USDOT’s Buses and Bus Facilities Program and Low or No Emission Vehicle (Low-No) Program, will help the agencies purchase and lease new, cleaner vehicles, as well as to renovate and/or construct the infrastructure needed to implement the zero-transmission vehicles.
“To successfully confront climate change, we must make significant investments in low- and no-emission vehicles,” Feinstein said. “I’m pleased that California has received more than $230 million in grants from the Department of Transportation to help build out our state’s fleet of low- and no- emission public transit vehicles. This funding will go a long way toward helping our state reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector.”
The funding is part of the $5.6 billion in new Low-No program emission funding and $5.1 billion in new Buses and Bus Facilities formula and competitive grant funding included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will provide an additional $1 billion for clean heavy-duty vehicles, including transit and school buses, as well as a new tax credit for up to $40,000 for commercial vehicles, for which transit agencies are eligible.
“Transitioning to zero-emission buses is a major step we can and should be taking to combat climate change and improve the air quality in our communities,” Padilla said. “Many cities and transit agencies across California are already developing and implementing projects to move to zero-emission buses—this funding will help those efforts charge forward. It is important we continue to invest not only in cleaner vehicles but also in the infrastructure needed to support them.”
Included in the announced grants are $104,160,000 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Zero-Emission Bus and Infrastructure Deployment Project; $17,367,042 million for the City of Fresno’s Zero-Emission Transition Project; $9,342,502 for Omnitrans’ Zero-Emission Buses, Fueling, and Workforce Development Project in the San Bernardino Valley.