Nearly $1.7 billion in federal funds has been awarded to various localities for the construction of facilities and stations for low emission buses as well as the purchase of the buses themselves.
The Federal Transit Administration has announced a series of awards to dozens of cities and transportation districts through its Low and No Emission Bus and Facilities program. The program is specifically supporting projects, according to an FTA release, that “will use zero emissions technology, which reduces air pollution.”
Those same projects, continues the FTA announcement, must de dedicated to meeting President Biden’s “goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.”
In one of the larger grants, the Colorado Department of Transportation is receiving $34.7 million for the building of a new charging and operations bus facility serving the commuters of Lake, Park, and Summit counties.
The new facility will replace an existing, but aging, facility belonging to the Summit Stage rural transit agency.
Just over $2.8 million will go for the construction of a new bus maintenance facility belonging to the Grand Valley Transit in Mesa County. The new facility will provide more space for mechanics to maintain the transit’s low emissions fleet.
The City of Las Cruces is receiving just under $2.2 million for the construction completion of a new transit and operations facility. The facility is designed to expand the city’s Roadrunner Transit fleet, while providing more space for maintenance work.
The most recent round for the FTA’s Low and No Emission program is seeing funding support for some 150 projects in 48 states. The final grant awards came after applications were submitted for around 530 projects in response to the agency’s earlier Notice of Funding Opportunity.
By Garry Boulard
