Politics & Government
Racine Receives $6.1 million For New Electric Buses
Volkswagen was ordered to pay a settlement of $2.9 billion to states. Wisconsin received $67.1 million of that settlement.
RACINE COUNTY ,WI -- The City of Racine is slated to get a minimum of six new electric buses after city officials announced they were the recipients of $6.1 million from the Volkswagen Transit Capital Assistance Grant Program.
“This is exciting news for several reasons. It’s good for the City budget, allowing us to have a dedicated funding source to replace some of our aging buses. This also helps us keep our commitment to reducing the City’s carbon footprint, and it allows us to be innovative as a SmartCity. It really is a win-win for the City,” said Mayor Cory Mason in a statement.
City officials said that funding became available from the state because the car manufacture, Volkswagen, admitted to violating the Federal Clean Air Act in lawsuit brought against the company after it was discovered the vehicle emission were intentionally misreported.
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Volkswagen was ordered to pay a settlement of $2.9 billion to states. Wisconsin received $67.1 million of that settlement, and made $32 million of that available via grants to municipalities to replace aging buses, officials said Friday.
In September, the City applied for the grant with a request for new electric buses, which also included the costs of infrastructure upgrades and charging stations.
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An image of a Proterra electric bus pictured at the top of this article is potentially one of the types of buses the city could purchase, officials said.
Other Cities who were awarded grants include:
Applicant Replacements Amount
City of Appleton 15 $7,688,850.00
City of Eau Claire 3 $1,970,700.00
City of Green Bay 4 $1,846,000.00
City of Janesville 3 $1,504,500.00
City of La Crosse 1 $421,500.00
City of Madison 10 $4,798,800.00
Milwaukee County 11 $5,461,500.00
City of Racine 6 $6,190,906.00
City of Sheboygan 2 $903,000.00
City of Wausau 3 $1,214,244.00
Total 58 $32,000,000.00
More information can be found at the Wisconsin Department of Administration website: https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/vwsettlementwisconsin.aspx
Image Via Proterra
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