$2.6 Million Grant To Make RTA "Greener" On Cleveland's West Side

CLEVELAND, OH — The RTA Triskett District facility will be getting a $2.6 million upgrade thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) said the money will be used to assist in a conversion from diesel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) at the station.

“This is great news, not just for RTA, but for the community. Now the west-side can be served with clean-burning natural gas buses,” said RTA CEO and General Manager Joe Calabrese. The east-side Hayden Garage has had the capability to refuel CNG buses since 2015.

The DOT grant also calls for the Triskett District facility to serve as a CNG public fueling station. In that capacity, nearby cities and other public and private entities will be able to use Triskett to fuel CNG vehicles, Calabrese said. Construction on the facility is expected to start in the Fall.

Compressed Natural Gas buses make up less than a fourth of RTA's total fleet. The organization said it has 106 CNG buses and 453 total buses. However, the organization has 33 new CNG buses currently on order. RTA said it plans to order an additional 27 CNG buses in 2019.

To help cover the costs of the new CNG buses, Ohio EPA also awarded RTA a grand, this time to the tune of $400,000. “Now with this additional CNG fueling facility, RTA will be even more environmentally friendly,” Calabrese said.

CNG buses reduce annual emissions by 100 tons of Co2 equivalent per bus. The RTA said it saved nearly 7,000 tons of emission in its first year of deploying CNG buses.

“As we continue to fight for bold and innovative investments in our infrastructure and manufacturing base, we must remain committed to providing much-needed resources to our public transportation systems,” said Representative Marcy Kaptur, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch