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    1. Bus

    FTA FY2020 Bus and Bus Facilities grants: More than $110 million in 10 states (and counting)

    Aug. 10, 2020
    Congressional offices have been notified of grants awarded in their districts for projects from FTA’s program to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and facilities.
    Sound Transit
    A rendering of what Sound Transit's SR 522 BRT line could look like. The agency will receive $4.8 million in federal funding to purchase vehicles for the project.
    A rendering of what Sound Transit's SR 522 BRT line could look like. The agency will receive $4.8 million in federal funding to purchase vehicles for the project.

    The U.S. Department of Transportation began notifying congressional offices last week about projects in their districts that would receive funds through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Fiscal Year 2020 Buses and Bus Facilities Grant Program.

    FTA issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity in January 2020. FTA has approximately $464.6 million available for the program in FY20. According to FTA, the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program is available to states and direct recipients to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment, and to construct bus-related facilities including technological changes or innovations to modify low or no emission vehicles or facilities.

    Based on information released from various congressional representatives, slightly more than 22 percent, $110.75 million, of the available funding can be tallied. Those projects include:

    • $14.8 million to the Colorado Department of Transportation that will be spread to five entities: $11.475 million to central Colorado, $1.8 million to Archuleta County, $800,000 to Eagle County, $479,444 to Durango Transit and $300,800 to Estes Park.
    • $14.7 million to New Jersey Transit to modernize and rehabilitate the Wayne Bus Garage, which services 191 buses, approximately 10 percent of NJ Transit’s entire bus fleet. NJ Transit funds the replacement of the garage’s roof, prepare the facility for solarization, upgrade the HVAC and fire detection and suppression systems, install energy-efficient lighting and upgrade the facility’s infrastructure to support battery-electric buses.
    • $11.35 million to Intercity Transit in Thurston County, Wash., to upgrade the capacity of its current maintenance building, which was built to support 80 vehicles, but now supports 400, and replace equipment and systems.
    • $10.4 million to the Fairbanks North Star Borough and $93,000 to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, which are both in Alaska. Information provided by U.S. Rep. Don Young’s office only gave a general use of the grant program funds and did not specify what the boroughs would be using the grants to purchase or build.  
    • $10.2 million was awarded to three systems in Maine, including $9 million to the Acadia Gateway Center in Trenton to complete the second phase of a full-service intermodal facility, $821,526 to the Greater Portland Transit District to purchase two, 40-foot clean diesel buses and $396,800 to the Community Connector Public Transit System in Bangor to implement fixed-route bus stops, build bus shelters and eliminate flag stops.
    • $10 million to the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District for the construction of new CityLink bus maintenance and operations facilities on the same site as its current facility. The existing CityLink maintenance facility is the oldest bus maintenance facility in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. CityLink has secured $20 million of the estimated $30 million needed to complete this project and is exploring funding opportunities for the additional $10 million needed.
    • $10 million to the city of Hazelton, Pa., for Hazleton Public Transit site improvements and new buses.
    • $8 million to Connect Transit to build a new Downtown Bloomington Transfer Center that will serve 10 bus routes and 1,800 daily boardings, offer riders protection from weather and provide improved safety, access, amenities and transit service.
    • $7.98 to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) to modernize its regional Operations and Dispatch Center (OC). The grant will help to install a new roof, new HVAC ductwork, make the OC fully ADA accessible and compliant, integrate new communication technology and shift KCATA’s record system to an electronic system for greater efficiency.
    • $4.8 million to Sound Transit to purchase up to five new high-capacity transit buses the agency’s SR 522 Bus Rapid Transit project in north King County.
    • $2.95 for the Spokane Transit Authority to purchase up to seven fixed-route, double-decker buses to operate on the Cheney High Performance Transit corridor.
    • $2.84 million for the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX) to purchase electric buses to operate on its LYMMO Orange and Lime lines.
    • $1.46 million to the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority for the purchase of CNG buses.
    • $821,500 for the Nashua Transit System in New Hampshire to replace two of the oldest vehicles in its fleet and make safety and technological upgrades to its transit center.
    • $446,742 to the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority in Ohio for vehicle replacement.

    The official release of the Fiscal Year 2020 Buses and Bus Facilities Grant Program grant recipients is expected from FTA this week.

    About the Author

    Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

    Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

    Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content. 

    She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.  

    She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.

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