The Federal Transit Administration has announced recipients of a grant program aimed at helping communities invest in the next generation of bus technology to enhance their transportation systems. Lawrence Transit is very pleased to be among those agencies whose projects were selected to move forward.
The City of Lawrence will receive $3,756,000. Lawrence Transit plans to use these funds to remove five diesel-fueled buses that have exceeded their useful life from service and deploy five zero-emission battery electric buses in their place.
“I first need to recognize the incredible efforts from Lawrence Transit and KU staff on this grant,” said Adam Weigel, Transit & Parking Manager. “Their work paid off in a big way, and Lawrence will soon see what the future of bus transportation looks like. It’s our job to keep pushing our transit system to be more environmentally sustainable, more affordable, and a better experience for riders, and this grant moves the needle. We’ll evaluate how these buses perform so that we can better plan for future deployments and are eager to hear what riders think of them once they hit the streets.”
The new electric buses will be used on routes serving the city and the university. Public transit services of the City of Lawrence and The University of Kansas have been coordinated since 2006. Together, city and university transit services provided 2.98 million rides in 2019.
The Low- or No-Emission Grant program funds the deployment of transit buses and infrastructure for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses and supporting facilities.
Forty-one projects in 40 states and the District of Columbia will each receive funding through the program.
Contact: Adam Weigel, Lawrence Transit (785) 832-3464