December 5, 2025. The Fairbanks North Star Borough, which operates the furthest north compressed natural gas (CNG) transit buses in the U.S., was recently awarded $3.1 million in federal transportation funding. The newly awarded funds will support the purchase of additional CNG buses through an 80/20 funding match, with the federal award covering 80 percent of project costs and the FNSB contributing to the remaining 20 percent. This investment strenghens the Borough’s strategy to modernize ist fleet and reduce emissions while ensuring reliable, cost-effective transit service for the community.
The FNSB Transportation Department is actively working to replace all 12 of the Borough’s existing transit buses with CNG-powered vehicles. “Transitioning our remaining diesel fleet to CNG will help lower operating costs, reduce dependence on diesel and improve air quality for Fairbanks-area residents”, said FNSB Transportation Director Michelle Denton. “This is particularly important to the borough because our cold climate regularly faces winter air pollution challenges.”
FAST Planning previously supported the fleet conversión by awarding Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) funding to the FNSB to desing and construct the CNG fueling station at their new Maintenance Facility on Lathrop Street. FAST Planning also made a complimentary investment at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The CMAQ funds will allow UAF to build a natural gas fueling station on campus and add three gas-powered shuttles to their fleet. Having tow CNG fueling stations in Fairbanks will mutually support the FNSB and UAF in the event either station is temporarily offline for maintenance.
“These efforts not only help improve air quality, but also strenghten partnerships among our local transit agencies,” said Jackson Fox, Executive Director of FAST Planning, “And we are thrilled the FNSB has leveraged such a significant amount of additional grant funding to keep the momentum going.”
CNG buses offer a proven, low-emission alternative to traditional diesel vehicles and perform reliably in the sub-arctic conditions unique to the Interior. These new investments will position the Borough to expand these benefits to riders and the community for many years to come.
“We’re proud to lead the way in Arctic transit innovation,” said Mayor Grier Hopkins. “This funding allows us to continue reducing emissions, replace aging vehicles, improve service reliability, and provide a cleaner transportation future for the FNSB.”