Even though Hurricane Irma brought a lot of uncertainty to Florida’s transit agencies this past couple of weeks, there has been some very good news to help balance things out.
On September 15, 2017, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the 51 recipients of the Low or No Emission (Low-No) Vehicle Program grant. The grant, totaling $55 million dollars across 39 states, is aimed at helping transit agencies across the nation to obtain, improve, and expand bus fleets that emit little to no carbon emissions – including battery electric buses.
If you’ve read my previous posts about the battery electric bus journey at the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), then you’ll be very delighted to hear that PSTA was among five agencies here in Florida to be awarded some of the FTA Low-No grant money! The $1 million awarded to PSTA will be used to help cement the agency’s commitment to purchase 2 battery electric buses per year, starting in FY 2020, by being able to have the funds available to purchase additional battery electric bus charging stations and buses.
As some of you already know, PSTA will be getting its first 2 battery electric buses towards the end of the year or early 2018 to be used on a planned shuttle route along Downtown St. Pete’s Beach Drive. PSTA leadership has shown their commitment to expanding the battery electric bus purchases beyond the initial pilot, and being granted the FTA money will allow the agency to fulfill that commitment.
The other four FL transit agencies that earned Low-No grant funds from the FTA include Tallahassee’s StarMetro – which already posses a small fleet of battery electric buses, Broward County Transit, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, and Gainesville’s Regional Transit System.
Please join me in congratulating all five of these wonderful transit agencies, as well as all of the recipients of the FTA grant!
Please be sure to bookmark my website: hartride2012tampa.wordpress.com | Contact Me.
You can also find me on Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | YouTube
The Global Transit Guidebook 
That sounds great! Bless the slivers of good transit news! Part of me wishes the money could be used to expand current service. But still, good news.
I totally agree James. There’s still a lot to be done with improving and expanding service, but also going back to ordering only straight diesel buses aren’t going to do any good for the future. In my opinion, PSTA needs to keep on track with its environmental commitment and the electric buses and hybrid buses help fulfill that commitment.