DOVER, Del. - The Federal Transit Administration has awarded the Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC) with $11 million from the Low-No Program to support the switch of the nations public transit fleet to the lowest polluting and most energy efficient vehicles. The agency says they have gotten more than $22 million through five separate federal grants to support the purchase of electric buses.
DelDOT says they will use the grant to buy two battery-electric buses and two hydrogen-fuel-cell electric buses, install two overhead electric charging stations, a large charger that would have 16 individual chargers inside of it, and a hydrogen fueling station.
These new buses will add on to the current fleet of 16 electric buses, accounting for 10% of the total fleet of fixed route buses.
“Last fall, I announced Delaware’s comprehensive Climate Action Plan that includes the goal of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025,” said Governor John Carney. “These continued investments are an important step in our efforts to address the leading source of these emissions which come from transportation.”
U.S. Senator Tom Carper, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, championed these federal programs in the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Delaware’s congressional delegation of Senators Carper and Chris Coons, along with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.) voted for the law, which invests in our nation’s infrastructure while combating climate change by investing in the electrification of public transit.
“Delaware is well on its way to transitioning its transit fleet to cleaner, energy efficient vehicles thanks to federal funding we worked hard to secure,” the delegation said. “Electric vehicles will help us achieve our shared climate goals, reduce harmful pollution, and foster economic opportunity.”
Delaware Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski added, “We are committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and each diesel bus we replace from our fleet with an energy efficient bus contributes to the state’s ongoing efforts to improve our air quality.”
“I’m very proud of the hard work and dedication put in the by the team here at DTC to reduce harmful emissions from the communities we serve by transitioning our fleet to low and zero emission buses,” said Delaware Transit Corporation CEO John Sisson. “This grant will allow us to continue these efforts to provide safe, clean and reliable transit services to the people of Delaware.”
The Delaware Transit Corporation, a subsidiary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), operates DART First State. For more information, please visit DartFirstState.com or call 1-800-652-DART. Real-Time Bus Information and DART Pass, the mobile fare payment option, are both available on the free DART Transit App (iOS and Android).
