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ARRA funds for transit

The Council will receive $70.6 million in ARRA funds through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for metro area transit projects. Thus far, the Council has obligated $52.8 million to purchase:

• 31 standard, 30 hybrid and 29 articulated bus replacements for the Metro Transit fleet ($49.6 million)
• 15 hybrid and 1 standard bus replacements for the Metro Mobility fleet ($1.8 million)
• 27 standard small buses for dial-a-ride services ($1.4 million)

 

The Council intends to use the remaining $17.8 million for eligible preventive maintenance costs included in the transit operating budget. This will help reduce the $62.4 million shortfall in the operating budget that is projected for FY 2010-11.

The Council also applied for and was awarded ARRA funds to hire up to five full-time police officers. The funds are from the federal government’s Transit Security Grant Program and will help support a Metro Transit anti-terrorism and crime suppression unit. Grant funding of $1.3 million will cover the cost of the officers for three years.                      

And, the Council’s Metro Mobility service for people with disabilities also applied for and was awarded an additional $1.1 million for gas hybrid electric vehicles to replace diesel vehicles in the exiting fleet.  The grant was awarded through the 2009 Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) program that promotes green technologies.