US Department of Transportation funds hundreds of electric buses

The US government has again awarded funding for electric buses. The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is funding public transport projects in 46 states and territories with 130 awards worth almost $1.7 billion US dollars.

The money will put more than 1,700 new buses on the roads. According to the FTA, nearly half of these will be zero-emission. A specific number of electric buses is not mentioned. However, the current announcement will allegedly bring the number of zero-emission transit buses “to more than 1,800 – and more than doubling the number of zero-emission transit buses on America’s roadways.”

Last year, 1,100 zero-emission buses were already subsidised. That would mean that at least 700 zero-emission buses will be funded in this second round of funding.

In the release, the FTA highlights some of the major projects planned. For example, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) intends to use $104 million to electrify an entire bus depot and purchase about 100 battery-electric buses. King County Metro Transit in Seattle, Washington, wants to buy around 30 electric buses for $33.5 million. The Ohio Department of Transportation will receive $29.3 million to help ten transit agencies serving rural and urban communities purchase dozens of low- or zero-emission buses to replace older vehicles. You will find a complete list of projects at the end of the article.

For the vehicles to be eligible, they must be made in the US. Moreover, many of the grant recipients have committed to buying standardised buses and vans and will do without customisation, resulting in faster delivery and lower costs.

The billion-dollar funding covers the procurement costs for the vehicles and the infrastructure and includes money for additional training programmes. The latter will be used to train the mechanics who currently maintain and repair diesel buses to work on electric vehicles.

“Every day, over 60,000 buses in communities of all sizes take millions of Americans to work, school, and everywhere else they need to go,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Today’s announcement means more clean buses, less pollution, more jobs in manufacturing and maintenance, and better commutes for families across the country.”

In addition, the US government is reportedly allocating at least $400 million in 2023 to promote “clean” school buses and the corresponding infrastructure.

transportation.gov, dot.gov (list of projects)