DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Department of Transportation is receiving $30.8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to buy new diesel-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric buses.
According to a release from the federal department, this money is to support DDOT’s green bus fleet of the future. They money is part of $1.5 billion in funding to support 117 public transportation projects across 47 states. The federal government plans to produce more than 4,600 new buses in U.S. factories.
Along with new buses to replace aging ones, the money will also go towards a hydrogen fueling station and charging equipment for the new fleet. The federal support will also include training to help bus operators and maintenance workers learn how to drive and maintain the new buses.
“Today, another 117 communities across 47 states are receiving the good news that their transit buses are being modernized and their commutes improved through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement.. “The Biden-Harris Administration is helping agencies replace old buses running on dirtier, expensive fuels by delivering modern and zero-emission buses, manufactured by American workers, that will connect more people to where they need to go.”
More information about federal money going to these bus projects across the countrycan be found here.