JACKSONVILLE, FL. – The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is receiving an $11.9 million Bus & Bus Facilities discretionary grant.
With this grant, the JTA will take eight diesel buses that have met FTA’s Useful Life standards out of service, and replace them with eight new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses. Not only does this assist in JTA’s bus replacement schedule, but it directly supports JTA’s sustainability effort by eliminating diesel buses that emit higher CO2 emissions, and replacing with cleaner CNG powered buses.
“Our congressional delegation fought hard on behalf of the JTA in seeking this grant funding,” said JTA Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. “Thank you to Congressman John Rutherford, Congressman Al Lawson, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Rick Scott, FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams and U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for your continued investment in Jacksonville and the JTA.”
The new CNG buses are part of a larger project that proposes to rehabilitate and upgrade some of the most pressing state of good repair needs at the JTA’s Myrtle Avenue Operations Campus. This includes the replacement of mobile column lifts for bus repairs; the replacement and upgrade of 21 bay doors from manual to electric; the rehabilitation of the bus wash facilities, including upgrades for waste, oil and plumbing systems; the replacement of exhaust fans, generators, HVAC and other maintenance and facilitates needs.
These replacement and rehabilitating projects will improve service reliability, enhance access and mobility for customers, and supports the JTA’s initiative of a safe, reliable and sustainable infrastructure for our employees.
In addition, Jacksonville has 21 opportunity zones, as designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
This project is in line with the administration goal of placing federal investment in areas to stimulate economic development and job creation by incentivizing long-term investments in low-income and underserved neighborhoods.
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