FTA Makes $85M in Low-No Emission Bus Grants

July 26, 2019

Earlier today, the Federal Transit Administration announced 38 grants to transit agencies for purchase of low or no emission buses, totaling $85 million.

“These grants will help communities nationwide bring the next generation of bus technology to enhance their transportation system,” said Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“Since its establishment, FTA’s Low-No program has funded over $300 million in new buses, infrastructure, and training, helping create and maintain American jobs in a fast-growing industry,” said FTA Acting Administrator Jane Williams.

A full list of projects and project descriptions can be found on the FTA website here.

The low-no program is established in subsection (c) of 49 U.S.C. §5339  and lets federal grants pay for up to 80 percent of the cost of:

  1. acquiring low or no emission vehicles;
  2. leasing low or no emission vehicles;
  3. acquiring low or no emission vehicles with a leased power source;
  4. constructing facilities and related equipment for low or no emission vehicles;
  5. leasing facilities and related equipment for low or no emission vehicles;
  6. constructing new public transportation facilities to accommodate low or no emission vehicles; or
  7. rehabilitating or improving existing public transportation facilities to accommodate low or no emission vehicles;

The total amount of grants shown below is $84,951,386. The mean (mathematical average) grant size is $2.24 million and the median grant (the number closest to the middle of the list if they were ranked largest to smallest) is $2.29 million, indicating a high degree of uniformity in grant sizes. The FAST Act of 2015 provided $55 million in contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund in 2019 for the program and the FY 2019 DOT Appropriations Act provided an additional $30 million in appropriations from the general fund of the Treasury.

The grant sizes should be viewed in the fact that a new electric transit bus probably costs somewhere in the $800 thousand to $1 million range, depending on options, so none of these transit agencies is getting a massive new bus fleet out of any one year’s awards.

FY 2019 Low-No Emission Bus Grant Awards

State City/Area Grant Award State City/Area Grant Award
AK Juneau $2,600,000 MN MSP area $2,500,000
AK Alabama A&M U. $1,700,000 MO Springfield $1,496,329
AZ Tucson $2,600,000 MS Gulfport area $744,000
CA Anaheim $2,000,000 NC Raleigh $1,650,000
CO Denver $2,600,000 NE Lincoln $2,647,671
DC Washington $2,600,000 NM Albuquerque $2,786,875
DE Statewide $2,600,000 NV Lake Tahoe $2,125,000
FL Orlando $1,961,233 NY Niagara Falls $2,500,000
GA Atlanta $2,600,000 OH Columbus $2,600,000
IA Ames $1,660,180 OK Tulsa $2,991,000
ID Boise $3,000,000 OR Portland $2,088,579
IL Peoria $2,320,000 PA Pittsburgh $1,912,000
IN Bloomington $284,759 SC Rock Hill $2,245,935
KS Topeka $1,737,825 TN Chattanooga $2,200,000
KY Lexington $2,200,000 TX Austin $2,600,000
LA Baton Rouge $2,500,000 UT St. George $3,000,000
MA Statewide $2,200,000 VT Statewide $3,000,000
MD P.G. County $2,200,000 WA Seattle $2,200,000
MI Detroit area $2,600,000 WI Milwaukee $1,700,000

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