COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — The United States Department of Transportation's Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) has awarded $1.7 billion for infrastructure projects in 46 states, Colorado being one of them.
The awards which were announced Monday are part of the Biden Administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed two years ago.
The competitive grant program saw nearly 500 applications, only 130 were awarded nationwide, with six of the wards being located in Colorado. The new program will provide federal funding for transit agencies across Colorado, Mountain Metropolitan Transit (MMT) will be seeing one of the largest grant awards in Colorado with $3,1999,038.
The funds will be used by MMT to purchase six new diesel-electric hybrid low/no emissions buses that will replace older buses, reduce carbon emissions and gradually improve air quality in Colorado Springs.
“We are very excited to get this grant,” said Lan Rao, Transit Division Manager. “This will allow us to purchase six electric hybrid buses that will not only improve the service to our riders, but they will also improve the air quality for the Colorado Springs community.”
The Federal Transit Administration also awarded grant money to five other transit authorities listed below.
- Mesa County's Grand Valley Transit - $1,162,000
- CDOT on behalf of Eagle County Transit Authority - $1,506,618
- CDOT on behalf of Mountain Express Transit - $753,118
- CDOT on behalf of San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation - $233,760
- CDOT on behalf of the Town of Winter Park - $1,145,951
MMT hopes to have the buses by late 2024.
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