C-Tran has been awarded a $6.08 million federal grant to replace 10 antiquated buses with 10 new low-floor, diesel-electric hybrids.
The announcement came Tuesday in a joint press release from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas.
C-Tran applied for the grant earlier this year and will provide a match of just more than $1.5 million.
The funds are from a Federal Transit Administration Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Grant program, which both Murray and Herrera Beutler worked to restore and fund in last year’s transportation bill.
“Washington State’s Congressional delegation was instrumental in passing new transportation funding this year,” Jeff Hamm, C-Tran executive director, said in the news release.
Hamm also said Herrera Beutler and Murray’s “leadership to increase funding for the bus and bus facilities program certainly aided further in making this grant award possible.”
RiverCities Transit, which serves Longview and Kelso, received grants to buy two biodiesel buses and to expand the Downtown Longview Transit Center.
“Our communities rely upon safe, reliable public transportation systems … it is critical we fight to invest in aging transit systems,” Murray said in the release. “I am so glad to see the city of Longview and Clark County receive recognition for their strong transit plans and receive these federal investments to lessen the environmental impact, ease congestion, and support Southwest Washington’s continued growth.”
Herrera Beutler also said she was pleased to see the two transit agencies receive the grants.
“So many folks here depend on efficient and convenient bus services, which is why I fought so hard to return hardworking taxpayer dollars back to Southwest Washington for these bus improvement grants,” she said.
C-Tran spokeswoman Christine Selk said the grant will help replace ten 1999 Gillig Phantom buses that have driven more than 6.1 million cumulative miles to date and outlived their useful lives by about five years.
“The fact they are still safely running is a testament to our maintenance crew,” Selk said. “They do a remarkable job keeping them on the road.”
But high milage isn’t the only issue: the maker of the buses’ passenger seats has been out of business “for several years” and C-Tran can’t find suitable replacement parts. On top of that, the buses’ plywood sub flooring is rotting and the bodies have issues with corrosion and paint adhesion.
Still, the buses will have to stay on the road for a little longer, C-Tran doesn’t anticipate the delivery of the new fleet until after March 2018.
C-Tran currently operates 32 low-floor diesel-electric hybrid buses, which, Selk said, operate with significant reductions in emissions and approximately 20 percent savings in fuel consumption.
