February 7, 2020. The Ohio Environmental Production Agency (EPA) and Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) awarded seven transit agencies with a total of $7 million in grants through the Ohio Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant (DERG) Program.
The funds will be used to replace 29 aging diesel transit buses with nine electric buses, 11 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses and nine cleaner diesel buses. Ohio EPA estimates that these vehicle replacements will result in an annual reduction of more than seven tons of air pollutants and the benefits will continue to accrue each year the new buses remain in service.
“These grants help support the efforts of Ohio’s local transit systems to modernize their bus fleets,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. “More importantly, these projects help improve air quality as we continue working to reduce pollution from diesel transit buses that operate in residential neighborhoods.”
The projects that were funded include:
- Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) in Franklin County is receiving $1,439,496 to cover 16 percent of the cost to replace nine model year 2009 diesel-powered buses with nine new electric-powered buses.
- Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) in Cuyahoga County is receiving $1,644,131 to cover 67 percent of the cost to replace five model year 2005 diesel-powered buses with five new CNG-powered buses.
- Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (GDRTA) in Montgomery County is receiving $766,899 to cover 80 percent of the cost to replace two model year 2008 diesel-powered buses with two new diesel-powered buses.
- Lake Transit Authority (LAKETRAN) in Lake County is receiving $411,828 for 80 percent of the cost to replace one model year 2010 diesel-powered bus with one new diesel-powered bus.
- Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority (PARTA) in Portage County is receiving $703,038 for 70 percent of the cost to replace two model year 2007 diesel-powered buses with two new diesel-powered bus.
- Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) in Hamilton County is receiving $1,269,893 for 60 percent of the cost to replace four model year 2006 diesel-powered buses with four new diesel-powered buses.
- Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) in Stark County is receiving $758,035 for 80 percent of the cost to replace six model year 2014 diesel-powered bus with six new CNG-powered buses.
The DERG program is funded from the Federal Highway Administrations’ Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and administered jointly by the Ohio EPA and ODOT.