Oakland City Wire

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) on June 27 celebrated over$25 million in federal funding awarded to AC Transit.

This funding will increase the fuel cell-electric bus fleet and retrofit its training and education center to transition to a combined bus maintenance facility and a classroom/laboratory. The project will help train staff on zero-emission bus technologies and improve service and reliability while improving air quality. Congresswoman Lee, along with other members of the Bay Area Congressional delegation, wrote a letter to Federal Transit Administration Administrator Nuria Fernandez on behalf of AC Transit last month in support of the grant application.  

“AC Transit efficiently and effectively serves our community while also being at the cutting edge of energy efficient bus technology. I’m pleased they received this multimillion-dollar grant to continue their work,” said Congresswoman Lee. “I was fortunate enough to welcome Secretary Buttigieg to the East Bay last year, where we spent time traveling around CA-12 on an AC Transit bus. He saw firsthand the state-of-the-art buses that my constituents rely on each day. This funding will not only increase AC Transit’s fuel cell-electric bus fleets, but it will also train AC Transit’s work force on the next generation of fuel-cell electric technology. I’m appreciative of Secretary Buttigieg, FTA Administrator Fernandez, and the Biden-Harris administration for prioritizing our public transit agencies while meaningfully addressing the climate crisis.”

"This Low-No Grant is a celebration for AC Transit’s more than 3 million annual riders and our East Bay communities because it paves the way to purchase an additional 25 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell buses totaling $40.0 million,” says President Joel Young, AC Transit Board of Directors. "Gratefully, the award dedicates $8.3 million to expand our fleet of 58 zero emission buses. However, we must still secure an additional $8.0 million in funding, which is no small task. And demonstrates the challenges faced by our transit district in implementing ambitious sustainability and innovation initiatives."

“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 U.S. 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.” 

“Today, we are creating new opportunities to dramatically improve the lives of millions of Americans who ride on buses every day,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, thesegrants will help deliver a cleaner and more modern mode of transportation, designed to reach everyone, and to work for everyone, particularly in places that haven’t received enough resources in the past.”

The projects announced today are supported by FTA’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and Low- and No-Emission (Low-No) Vehicle programs. The Buses and Bus Facilities program provides federal funding for transit agencies to buy and rehabilitate buses and vans and build and modernize bus facilities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides nearly $2 billion through FY 2026 for the program. For FY 2023, approximately $473 million for grants was available under this program.

FTA’s Low-No program makes funding available to help transit agencies buy or lease American-built low- or zero-emission vehicles, including buses and vans; make facility and station upgrades to accommodate low- or zero-emission vehicles; and purchase supporting equipment like chargers for battery electric vehicles. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $5.5 billion through FY 2026 for the Low-No Program – more than six times greater than the previous five years of funding combined. For FY 2023, approximately $1.22 billion was available for grants under this program.

The awards are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle out.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced awards totaling nearly $1.7 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for transit projects in 46 states and territories. This funding invests in more than 1,700 American-built buses that will be manufactured with American parts and labor. Nearly half of these buses will be zero-emission models, bringing the total number of zero-emission transit buses funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law over two years to more than 1,800 – and more than doubling the number of zero-emission transit buses on America’s roadways. Many of the grant recipients have pledged to buy standardized buses and vans and avoid customization, which will result in faster delivery and lower costs.

Twenty-two of the funded projects will operate with project labor agreements to ensure their efficient and timely completion, and 34 projects have committed to the gold standard model of registered apprenticeship, 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.

Original source can be found here