DOT awards more than $112M to 46 transit projects; more than half for purchases of new hybrid, battery-electric or fuel-cell buses

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has selected 46 transit projects to share more than $112 million in funding to promote innovative and clean-fuel transit projects from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Fifty-five percent of the total award will go to 24 projects acquiring hybrid-electric, full battery-electric, or fuel-cell electric buses or transit vehicles.

Projects were selected through the FTA’s competitive Fiscal Year 2011 Sustainability Initiative, which includes funding from two FTA programs: the Clean Fuels Grant Program and the TIGGER III (Transit Investment in Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction) Grant Program.

• 18 projects replacing older buses with hybrid-electric models will receive a total of $39.2 million (34.9%).
• 5 projects bringing in battery-electric buses will receive a total of $17.7 million (15.8%), with the largest single project being a $6.7-million award to Long Beach (CA) Transit to support replacing 10 older buses with battery-electric models.
• One project (SunLine Transit) received $4,917,876 (4.4%) to acquire two new fuel-cell buses.

The Federal Transit Administration reviewed 266 project applications for both grant programs representing more than $1 billion in funding requests from transit providers across the country.