Five new public transit projects have been greenlighted to receive funding from the state thanks to the Iowa Transportation Commission’s approval.
The projects will need more than $1.5 million and will be funded by the Public Transit Infrastructure Grant Fund, which funds new or improved facilities for public transit services. The grant is available yearly and can cover up to 80 percent of a transit system’s project once 20 percent of the project costs have been secured by the system.
The five projects that were approved include:
• New bus storage and administrative facility for Benton County (Region 10 - Cedar Rapids): $318,000;
• New heating and air conditioning system (CyRide - Ames): $521,098;
• Phase II transfer center (Dubuque): $344,743;
• Renovated transit maintenance and storage facility (Sioux City): $135,200; and
• New bus storage and vehicle wash facility (Region 15 - Ottumwa): $273,459.
“The Public Transit Infrastructure Grant is an important source of funding for public transit systems,” said Brent Paulsen, research and technology manager for Public Transit Bureau for Iowa Department of Transportation. “This program enables transit systems to construct and maintain facilities that are critical to the operation of the system and maintenance of the vehicles.”
Public transit service is available in all 99 counties. It provides more than 24 million rides a year getting the public where they need to go.
