PSTA gets $18 million from the federal government for electric buses

Share
PSTA electric bus demo
Electric bus demonstration at PSTA. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (26 January 2016).

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is getting more than $18 million to buy new electric buses.

A press release Monday from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) said that President Joe Biden and the FTA have “awarded $409.3 million in grants to 70 projects in 39 states to modernize and electrify America’s buses, make bus systems and routes more reliable, and improve their safety.”

The PSTA grant is one of two in Florida. The other is in Gainesville.

Details about the PSTA grant for electric buses

According to the FTA website, the PSTA grant is $18,399,000, the second-largest awarded in this round. It’s “to buy electric buses to replace older buses that have exceeded their useful life and support charging infrastructure. The new vehicles will improve air quality as well as the safety and reliability of transit service for residents in Pinellas County,” according to the FTA press release.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “these grants will help people in communities large and small get to work, get to school, and access the services they need.”

Other electric bus grants from the FTA

In 2020, HART received a grant for electric buses. That grant was for $2.7 million.

The FTA press release says, “FTA received more than $2.5 billion in funding requests, more than five times the amount of funding available under the previous law.

“Under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, an additional $5.1 billion in formula and competitive grant funding is authorized under the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program over the next five years – meaning more projects can be funded.”

Gainesville grant for electric buses

The other Florida grantee in this round is the City of Gainesville Department of Transportation & Mobility’s Regional Transit System.

According to the FTA website, it is getting $10,660,817 “to buy buses to replace older buses that have exceeded their useful life and build a new bus transfer station. This project will improve service reliability and efficiency for residents in Gainesville and Alachua County.”

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Surly Voices
Player position: