Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The Lancaster Public Transportation building renovation is being funded by a $105,000 State of Good Repair grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

The State of Good Repair grant, which the Tennessee Department of Transportation was able to get by collaborating with 15 transit agencies across the state, will cover about one-fifth of the vehicle replacement needed at each participating agency.

In addition, opened the doors this year to a new indoor, simulated transit facility used to determine passenger eligibility for the paratransit service.

FTA received 836 project applications totaling $4 billion in requests. In FY2010 and FY2011, FTA awarded a total of more than $1.8 billion in grants for hundreds of state of good repair projects, primarily involving buses and bus facilities.

Will fund up to 10 new hybrid electric vehicles and a fueling station that will be built at Reno, Nev.-based Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County’s maintenance and operations facility. Support was provided through the FTA’s FY2011 State of Good Repair grant program.

Will be used to replace the leaking 30-year-old roof of the People Mover bus maintenance facility in Anchorage, Alaska. The new roof will also improve the facility’s overall energy efficiency, saving money on heating fuel costs.

The notice of funding availability published in the Federal Register invites competitive proposals for three of the FTA's top policy priorities through the discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities and Clean Fuels grant programs.

Projects will be evaluated on primary criteria that include safety, economic competitiveness, livability, environmental sustainability, state of repair and short-term job creation.

Will use the State of Good Repair grant program funds to replace old buses. Once the new buses arrive next year, one out of every six of the agency’s buses will be diesel electric hybrid.

Will develop and document a transit asset management framework and implementation guide that will support the FTA’s State of Good Repair and Asset Management Programs. FTA estimates a nationwide backlog of $50 billion to $80 billion in deferred maintenance and replacement needs, many of which are rail related.