Today, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) is set to receive $2.5 Million in funding from the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the purchase of hybrid electric buses. Gillibrand and Schumer commend DOT for their work to improve transit vehicles across the state.
“The Capital Region is growing through green jobs and new technologies and our public transit system must be ready to handle the load. I applaud the Department of Transportation for choosing the Capital District Transportation Authority to receive this investment,” Schumer said. “This Clean Fuels Program grant will allow the residents of New York’s Tech Valley to commute in hybrid electric buses and help New York remain a leader in improving air quality standards.”
“This is an important investment for the Capital Region,” Senator Gillibrand said. “These federal dollars will help upgrade our bus fleet, improving public transportation for these New Yorkers and supporting green initiatives by reducing our carbon footprint. I will keep working to secure the federal resources we need to improve our transportation services.”
CDTA CEO Carm Basile said, “We are extremely grateful for this award, which will allow us to stick with a planned purchase program for buses. New vehicles are the centerpiece of our efforts to attract new customers to our system. Good transit service is more important than ever before and we appreciate the work of our congressional delegation in this effort.”
The funding for this grant is allocated by the DOT for the FY 2011 Clean Fuels Program, developed to assist non-attainment or maintenance areas in achieving or maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and carbon monoxide. Additionally, the program supports emerging clean fuel and advanced propulsion technologies for transit buses and markets for those technologies.
The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) plans, finances, implements and delivers transit services that take people where they want to go in the Capital Region safely, efficiently and at a reasonable cost. The CDTA serves approximately 14.5 million people in New York’s Capital Region annually.