GoTriangle awarded $1.6 million FTA grant to support electric charging of buses
GoTriangle’s progress toward electrifying its fleet got a boost with the news yesterday that the Federal Transit Administration had awarded the agency a $1,672,000 grant through the Low- and No-Emission (Low-No) Vehicle program.
GoTriangle will use the funding to buy charging equipment and modernize two bus facilities to support the agency's zero emission fleet. Upgrades to add electric bus charging stations to the Raleigh Union Station Bus Facility to be built in downtown
“GoTriangle is working hard to develop a bus fleet that will provide transit services in a more effective and sustainable way,” said GoTriangle President and CEO Charles Lattuca.
The Low or No Emission competitive program provides funding to state and local governmental authorities to buy or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses as well as to acquire, construct and lease required supporting facilities. Funding is allocated to projects on a competitive basis from proposals submitted to FTA.
A reliable and robust public transportation system helps connect communities, spur economic development and cut harmful carbon emissions, said GoTriangle’s Board Chair Sig Hutchinson.
“Thanks to the federal funding secured by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, GoTriangle will continue to create a reliable and sustainable public transportation system in the Triangle region,” he said.
GoTriangle’s grant was among 130 awards totaling nearly $1.7 billion for transit projects in 46 states and territories the FTA announced today. The funding invests in more than 1,700 American-built buses, and nearly half will be zero-emission models. Twenty-two of the funded projects will operate with project labor agreements to ensure their efficient and timely completion, and 34 projects will offer registered apprenticeships, with supportive services such as childcare for employees.
In addition, the zero-emission bus grants include millions of dollars in funding for workforce programs that will train today's internal combustion mechanics to become tomorrow's electric motor technicians, and the projects will include millions of dollars in funding for workforce programs that help transition today's diesel mechanics to tomorrow's electric motor technicians.
Today’s investment is the second bus grant package funded by President Joe Biden’s signature Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which has now invested more than $3.3 billion in American transit buses and the infrastructure that supports them.