Bus Money: CT Scores $7.4 Million From Feds For Electric Fleet

CONNECTICUT — The Federal Transit Administration has awarded the Connecticut Department of Transportation a $7.4 million grant for the purchase of 10 battery electric buses and 10 DC fast chargers.

The upgrades are targeted for the CTtransit Waterbury division and will make that city's bus depot the first bus facility in the state capable of running a 100 percent battery electric bus transit fleet, according to a news release.

The federal grant will be matched with $5.7 million in state funding and other sources, for a total project cost of $13.1 million, Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The project is the first of its kind in Connecticut to prepare an entire transit and paratransit depot fully for electrification, according to state Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giuletti.

"Not only does the purchase of these ten new electric buses mean that we can make the Waterbury fleet fully electric, but it brings us one step closer to our state's goal of a fully electric bus fleet statewide by 2035," Lamont said.

"The wide-spread adoption of this technology will be key to Connecticut meeting its climate change mandates," according to Alex Rodriguez, a climate advocate with environmental action group Save the Sound. "Thanks to this investment, we are one step closer to a climate resilient, clean transportation future.”