The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently awarded the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) $11.5 million in grants from two transit funding programs.
“This funding will assist GCRTA in moving forward in our plans to upgrade our rail and bus fleets,” India Birdsong, GCRTA general manager and CEO, said. “Funding opportunities such as these underscore the importance of public transportation to our region and subsequent investment in our communities. We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this round of funding and appreciate ODOT’s continued support of our Rail car and Bus Replacement programs.”
ODOT awarded GCRTA $8 million through the Ohio Transit Partnership Program and $3.5 million through the Urban Transit Program.
GCRTA will use funding for its Rail Car Replacement Program and its Bus Improvement Program.
The agency will replace six 40-foot diesel buses with six environmentally friendly 40-foot compressed natural gas-powered buses.
“This is the third year that ODOT has awarded funding to the Rail Car Replacement Program and brings the total ODOT funding to $21.4 million,” Mike Schipper, GCRTA deputy general manager of engineering and project management, said. “With this award GCRTA has now raised $197.5 million of the $300 million total program budget.”