Lexington’s mass transit system is the recipient of a $1 million federal grant.
The funding from the Federal Transit Authority’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program is far less than what was requested.
The $1 million in FTA funding will be used toward a Lextran purchase of an electric bus. Five electric buses are traveling Lexington streets now with another expected by the end of the year.
Lextran had sought $10 million through the grant program, but General Manager Carrie Butler is not surprised with the final grant amount.
“We weren’t surprised. We understand how competitive the program is and how much interest there is in deployment of electric buses or low or no emission vehicles,” said Butler.
Butler says the majority of buses in Lextran’s fleet remain diesel-powered. But the mass transit administrator says five new compressed natural gas buses are due to arrive in the next few months. Butler says that will bring the total number of CNG vehicles to 12.
