US DOT Announces $59.3M for Clean Energy Transit Projects

 
The United States Department of Transportation has announced that it will grant $59.3 million to 27 clean transportation projects.

San Francisco bus via Radoslaw Lecyk / Shutterstock.com

This vehicle upgrade project does not only provide the benefit of reducing bus fuel usage, but because it is an upgrade to new buses, there is an improvement in comfort and reliability, too — if the buses being replaced are very old.

Competition for this grant was fierce, and the funding requests made by the 146 grant applicants totaled a whopping $516 million. Unfortunately, only so many can be funded.
 

 
The funding is intended to help fund bus projects, in particular.

Some of the projects that won the grants include:

1. $4.4 million for the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, Kentucky, to replace outdated and inefficient trolley cars with ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) buses, which will make them compliant with federal clean air requirements for the first time and enable the transit authority to reduce their operational expenses for years to come.
2. $2.5 million for Florida’s Miami-Dade County to retrofit older buses with new electric engine cooling systems to improve fuel economy, reduce pollutant and CO2 emissions, and prolong the life of the bus fleet.
3. $4.5 million for the Worcester Regional Transit Authority in Worcester, Massachusetts, to replace aging diesel buses with all-electric ZEV buses, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease fuel usage, and lower operating costs.

“As more and more Americans choose to ride the bus to work and elsewhere, it’s good to know that they can depend on vehicles that won’t pollute their neighborhoods, while also helping us to achieve greater energy independence,” said FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff. “By investing in these clean-fuel projects today, we’re helping to ensure that the nation’s transit services are good for the environment for years to come.”

Source: Greentech Media