WASHINGTON, D.C. – On June 27, 2023, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) announced the state of California has received $181,406,277 in grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to put new American-built buses on the road and improve transit service in their community. The grants, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration, were made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Congressman Cárdenas helped pass in Congress.
“One of my top priorities is promoting and protecting a healthy, clean environment for my community,” said Congressman Cárdenas. “Air pollution is a major health concern across California, especially for children, one of our most vulnerable populations. I led the Clean Commute for Kids Act because I was worried about how much polluted air kids are breathing just from heavy vehicles. We’re another step closer to seeing clean buses on the roads and cleaner air across our state thanks to these grants.”
The grants were competitive. There were five times as many requests for funding than was available. In total, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced nearly $1.7 billion for transit projects in 46 states, territories, and D.C. during the round of funding. The funding also includes support for workforce training, registered apprenticeships, and project labor agreements, ensuring good-paying jobs into the future.
“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.”
Congressman Cárdenas led the Clean Commute for Kids Act, which provides funding to retrofit bus fleets with cleaner energy sources like electricity or natural gas. Nearly 25 million children ride over 500,000 predominantly diesel buses to school in the US each day, which contribute to air pollution, and importantly to children’s exposure to air pollution. This bill seeks to address these issues. Provisions from the Clean Commute for Kids were passed in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The projects announced today are supported by FTA’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and Low- and No-Emission (Low-No) Vehicle programs. They make 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 Fiscal Year 2026 for the Low-No Program – more than six times greater than the previous five years of funding combined.
Original source can be found here.
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