The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently released $55.9 million in historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to Rhode Island to enhance public transit across the state.
Public transit agencies will use the funding to expand service, conduct job training, and purchase new low- and no-emission buses.
“These funds will be used to modernize and upgrade our vehicles and facilities, making transit more resilient and sustainable,” Scott Avedisian, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority CEO, said. “This funding will also be used for a long-overdue and much-needed renovation to Rhode Island’s only transit tunnel. Built in 1914, this historic transit infrastructure has made it easier for trolleys, and then buses, to travel from North Main Street to Thayer Street on the East Side of Providence for decades.”
The funding is possible because of the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.
The state’s allocation is part of the $21 billion the U.S. Department of Transportation will distribute to states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to support critical public transit infrastructure. According to the law, each state will determine how these funds can best address longstanding needs.
Rhode Island will receive an estimated $292 million in transit formula funding over the next five years.