Tucson Standard

TUCSON, Ariz. – On June 26, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced grant recipients for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Low or No (Low-No) Emission Vehicle and Grants for Buses & Bus Facilities Programs. The City of Tucson’s system, Sun Tran, will receive $21,490,560 for its “A Clean Ride by 2025” project.

This project will allow the City of Tucson to replace ageing diesel-powered buses with cleaner running Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses and help with costs to purchase 39 CNG buses. Earlier this year, Rep. Grijalva wrote a letter in support of the grant to the FTA.

“This grant is a significant investment that will help reduce our collective transit carbon footprint, improve air quality and quality of life for residents that have experienced social and economic inequities,” said Rep. Grijalva. “I am proud to see the City of Tucson being a champion on climate action, resiliency and addressing the needs of historically underinvested communities. These are the types of positive opportunities created when Democrats are in charge of Congress and take decisive actions that will move our climate goals forward and enable environmental justice in southern Arizona.”

Rep. Grijalva has long supported numerous efforts to continue investing in clean public transportation in Tucson.

In August 2022, he helped secure $12.1 million for new zero-emission buses or the City’s Sun Tran public transportation system as well as supporting equipment.

 In 2020, Tucson was awarded a $3.7 million grant to purchase new zero-emission buses for the City’s Sun Tran public transportation system.

 In July 2019, he helped secure a $2.6 million grant that the city used to purchase its first electric buses.  

Background

• The Low-No Program makes funding available to help transit agencies buy or lease U.S.-built low- or no-emission vehicles, including buses and vans, facility and station upgrades to accommodate low- or no-emission vehicles, and supporting equipment like battery electric charging. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $5.5 billion through FY 2026 for the Low-No Program – more than six times greater than the previous five years of funding. For FY 2023, approximately $1.22 billion was available for grants under this program.
• The Buses and Bus Facilities Program provides federal funding for transit agencies to buy and rehabilitate buses and vans and build and modernize bus facilities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides nearly $2 billion through FY 2026 for the program. For FY 2023, approximately $473.1 million for grants was available under this program.

Original source can be found here.