The U.S. Department of Transportation is providing over $1.7 billion in subsidies to transit projects in 46 states and territories for the purchase of zero- and low-emission buses.
The funding will make it possible for state and local governments, as well as transit agencies, to purchase 1,700 buses made in the United States, of which over half will be carbon neutral.
The funds are funded under the President Joe Biden-signed 2021 bipartisan infrastructure package.
In an effort to limit the effects of climate change, the Democratic president has made it a priority to put more electric vehicles on the road, particularly for public transportation and schools.
In a conference call with reporters, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that “millions of Americans climb aboard more than 60,000 buses every day to get to work, to school, to doctor’s appointments, and everywhere they need to be.”
“These levels of investment in putting newer, cleaner buses on the road are unprecedented.”
The second batch of funds for buses and auxiliary infrastructure was announced on Monday.
The U.S. has so far contributed a total of $3.3 billion to the projects. Over the following three years, government officials anticipate awarding an additional $5 billion in grants.
The Biden administration claimed that the new buses will promote public health because there will be fewer diesel emissions in the air and because they will be more convenient to use.
As evidence of the need for the money, the government received 475 project ideas for the awards, with a combined value of almost $8.7 billion. For the purpose of purchasing 30 electric battery buses and chargers, the Seattle region will get $33.5 million.
The $104 million budgeted by the Washington, DC, transportation authority will be used to purchase around 100 electric battery buses as well as convert a bus garage to an electric facility.
But money is also being distributed outside of the country’s largest cities, with awards also going to Iowa City, Iowa, and the Seneca Nation in Western New York.
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