The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently announced the reward of $423 million in transit infrastructure grants nationwide to improve the state of the nation's bus systems and enhance mobility for transit riders.
A total of 94 projects in 42 states and the District of Columbia will receive funding from FTA's Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program.
The funding supports projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment, as well as projects to purchase, rehabilitate, and construct bus-related facilities.
"More people travel by bus than any other form of public transportation," FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams said in a statement. "This administration is committed to rebuilding our nation’s transportation infrastructure and helping to improve bus service nationwide."
Among the projects selected to receive funding:
- In Arizona, two projects will receive a total of $17.4 million, including approximately $17.3 million to the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority to construct a new Downtown Connection Center in Flagstaff and purchase all-electric buses; and $160,000 to the White Mountain Apache Tribe to purchase new vehicles and expand transit service for tribal residents.
- In Michigan, the City of Detroit DOT (DDOT) and Flint Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) will receive a total of $12.8 million, including $8.5 million to modernize Detroit’s fare collection system on buses and $4.3 million to help Flint purchase new buses that will replace diesel buses that have exceeded their useful life.
- In North Carolina, three projects will receive a total of $24.5 million, including $17.3 million to the North Carolina DOT to help several rural transit systems replace vehicles and construct public transportation facilities throughout the state; as well as $6.8 million to the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation and $480,000 to the City of Salisbury to purchase new vehicles to replace those that have exceeded their useful life.
FTA said demand for its Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program far exceeded available funding, as applications were submitted for a total of 318 eligible projects totaling approximately $1.9 billion in funding requests.
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SOURCE: Federal Transit Administration
