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Print Edition StoriesMonday, June 8, 2009
Conn. aims for $19M in stimulus funds for ‘green’ buses
By Efrain Viscarolasaga
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The State of Connecticut has filed applications for $18.9 million worth of federal stimulus dollars aimed at upgrading state-owned transit buses, said state officials.
If the application is approved it would provide the state with “dozens” of hybrid buses and install fuel cells as backup power sources in maintenance garages around the state, according to an announcement from the office of Governor M. Jodi Rell.
The state’s Department of Transportation has already experimented with such technologies, having run two hybrid buses since 2003 and one fuel cell-powered bus since 2006. The state also expects the delivery of four previously ordered fuel cell buses in the next 12 months.
In detail, the recent application submitted by the Department of Transportation includes:
• $10 million for the upgrade of 63 new buses to hybrid-electric power
• $5.3 million for a fuel cell storage facility and a stationary fuel cell for the Hartford CTTransit maintenance and storage facility
• $3.6 million for stationary fuel cells in each of the CTTransit facilities in New Haven and Stamford.
The competitive grants are through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). There is approximately $100 million in grants available and a decision on the Connecticut’s application is expected by Sept. 1, according to officials.
In a related award, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has already applied for, and expects to receive, $1.73 million for the reduction of diesel emissions, which will include the retrofit of the emissions systems of state-owned vehicles.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is also moving forward with $152.7 million in other public transit projects under ARRA, including the purchase of 136 diesel and diesel-electric hybrid buses, other bus and rail line improvements and commuter parking lot enhancements, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
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