The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced Tuesday it had awarded more than $1.6 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories, and states to invest in bus fleets and facilities.
As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the funding for low and no-emission bus grants will invest in more than 150 bus fleets and facilities and nearly double the number of zero-emission transit buses on the road. The move to zero-emission technologies will reduce air pollution and work toward meeting President Joe Biden’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
“With today’s awards, we’re helping communities across America – in cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike – purchase more than 1,800 new buses, and most of them are zero-emission,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this announcement means more good jobs for people across the country, cleaner air in our communities, and more affordable and reliable options to help people get to where they need to go.”
The bus grants, made under the FTA’s Buses and Bus Facilities and Low- and No-Emission Vehicle Programs, are the FTA’s first competitive grant selections under the BIL. The FTA said that for the first time, 5 percent of the funding will be used to train transit workers on maintaining and operating new clean bus technology.
Grants included $116 million for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to buy nearly 230 battery-electric buses to replace older diesel buses and launch a comprehensive workforce training and development program; $104.1 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) for an estimated 160 battery-electric buses to replace older compressed natural gas buses and for charging equipment; and $34.7 million for the Colorado Department of Transportation for a bus depot for electrical charging and storage for Summit Stage, a rural transit agency providing bus service to Summit, Park, and Lake counties in northeast Colorado.
“When a transit door opens, whether it is a bus, train, or ferry, it is a great equalizer for everyone in our nation,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “With this tremendous amount of funding, the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law gives more Americans access to the opportunities that transit creates, more often, in more places. These investments also help us meet our goals of cutting transportation emissions, creating good-paying American manufacturing jobs, and helping America’s transit workers prepare for new vehicle technology.”