PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — More electric buses are coming to St. Petersburg after the county received millions of federal dollars to pay for them.
The U.S. Department of Transportation rolled out the latest round of bus grants and announced a $27.8 million grant for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). The money will go toward 12 electric buses, 4 hybrid buses, 12 depot chargers and equipment.
Polly Trottenberg, deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, said the money can also go toward workforce development to make sure the transit workforce can maintain and operate the buses. The new modernized buses will replace older diesel buses in the county's inventory.
"The new uses will be cleaner, and they will be quieter and hopefully have longer running times and be safer as well," she said.
The department received a total of $9 billion in requests, but Pinellas County and St. Petersburg had one of the best applications, Trottenberg said. Some of the criteria that stuck out was the demonstrated need and benefits of the project. She also noted exemplary financial commitment, involvement in local planning and a good implementation strategy that the county had set forth.
"It's a growing area, and I think you all are really leaning into that next generation of transit investments," she said.
The federal department got a total of 477 applications and is funding 117 projects in 47 states. The award is part of the $1.5 billion in funding part of President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This is the third round of funding, which has awarded nearly $5 billion in the past three years to replace and modernize buses, according to a news release.
About 80% of the buses being funded will run on zero or low-emission technology to reduce air pollution, the release said.
Escambia County, Broward County, Volusia County, Gainesville, Orlando and Tallahassee were other places in the state that received funds. Pinellas County received the most.
PSTA has won several awards in recent years for their work in improving public transportation in the Tampa Bay Area. The agency was named the Transit System of the Year for 2023.