Roseville residents may soon see more electric buses on the road, thanks in part to a $13.6 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
Roseville Transit will use the grant to continue transitioning its bus fleet from gas and diesel-powered vehicles to zero-emission electric vehicles, city officials said.
The transit agency will purchase 15 new electric buses — seven commuter buses and eight Dial-A-Ride buses — along with necessary charging equipment. City officials said part of the funding will also be used to train employees on how to operate and maintain new clean bus technology.
“We are incredibly excited about this grant and the opportunity to continue advancing our fleet to zero-emission standards while providing an affordable and convenient transportation option to our residents,” said Roseville’s Alternative Transportation Division Manager Ed Scofield in a prepared release on Tuesday.
The city started building a $4.5 million bus charging facility at the Roseville City Corporation Yard earlier this year. City officials said the project is expected to be finished by the end of 2022.
In August 2021, city officials approved the purchase of five electric commuter buses, marking Roseville’s first step toward transitioning to a fully-electric bus fleet. The city currently has 41 diesel and gas powered buses.
In 2018, the California Air Resource Board approved regulation mandating all public transit agencies in the state transition to using a fully-electric fleet of vehicles by 2040.
The FTA awarded more than $1.5 billion to 150 transit agencies across the nation. FTA officials said funding for these grants was approved by the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The city of Fairfield was awarded more than $12 million to buy zero-emission electric buses and charging equipment. Fairfield transit officials will also use a portion of that funding to “upgrade its maintenance facility to support the operation of battery electric buses,” FTA records say.
San Joaquin Regional Transit District was also awarded more than $3 million to buy hybrid electric buses to help expand service in the Stockton area, “including in areas that suffer from higher levels of air pollution,” according to FTA records.
Though it was not included in this round of FTA funding, Sacramento Regional Transit is also working toward phasing out its gas and diesel-powered buses.
In 2020, SacRT and Yolobus partnered to purchase a fleet of electric buses and re-launched the Causeway Connection, a bus route that connects Davis and Sacramento. The route now only uses electric-powered buses, according to SacRT. The agency re-launched its Airport Express Service in 2021, which also exclusively uses electric-powered buses.
Earlier this year, SacRT approved its Zero-Emission Bus Rollout Plan, which lays out a timeline for the agency to transition to a fully-electric fleet of vehicles.
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