FTA Awards $1.2M to METRO for New Buses

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced that it has awarded a $1,206,518 grant to the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) to purchase four Compressed Natural Gas buses. METRO’s grant application was selected from among more than 1,000 applications submitted to the FTA Bus and Bus Facilities competitive grant program, and one of twelve grants awarded in California.

Alex Clifford, METRO’s CEO, said that 62 buses in METRO’s fleet are well beyond their useful life and need to be replaced immediately. “We are operating 20-year-old diesel buses with more than 725,000 miles that should have been put out to pasture by 2010. METRO will add $1.2 million in local funds to this grant to buy four new CNG buses. We’re chipping away at a huge backlog of overdue replacements.”

METRO was able to apply for this grant and provide a $1.2 million local match thanks to the California state legislature having approved Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

METRO currently operates a fleet of 98 buses, 76 of which run on Compressed Natural Gas, a cleaner burning alternative that emits less greenhouse gases than diesel fuel. METRO has purchased only CNG buses since 2002.

Barrow Emerson, Planning and Development Director, stated, “We’re honing our skill at winning competitive grant awards from federal and state funding programs. We have several more grant applications out there, and I’m optimistic that 2018 will be a good year for bus replacement funding.”

The Federal Transit Administration selected 139 projects from across the country to share approximately $264 million in federal funds available in 2017 for transit capital improvements.

Santa Cruz METRO especially thanks Senators Harris and Feinstein and Congressman Panetta and Congresswoman Eshoo for their letters of support which were included in the grant application.

Santa Cruz METRO provides fixed-route and Highway 17 commuter service to Santa Cruz County, transporting about 5.5 million passenger trips a year. METRO also provides paratransit service to Santa Cruz County with its ParaCruz service, providing about 86,000 trips per year. METRO’s operating budget in FY18 is $48 million.

•••

Today METRO operates 98 buses on more than 30 fixed routes and serves the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola, Watsonville, and Scotts Valley, as well as the unincorporated areas of the county. For more, visit: www.scmtd.com

https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/fiscal-year-2017-bus-and-bus-facilities-projects