CBJ awarded $1.5 million to purchase electric bus

The City and Borough of Juneau will receive $1.5 million to purchase an electric bus and associated charging infrastructure for Capital Transit. The bus is slated to join the fleet in 2022, as older diesel buses get replaced. The $1.5 million is from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration (FTA) through the Low- or No-Emission (Low-No) Grant Program, which provides funding for state and local governmental authorities to purchase or lease zero-emission and low-emission transit buses.

“We’re anticipating being able to incorporate electric buses into our fleet and having them be part of Capital Transit’s normal operations. Capital Transit’s mission is to provide safe and reliable transportation to the Juneau public, and we look forward to doing that using no-emission advanced technology,” Capital Transit Superintendent Ed Foster said.

The money will go through the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. CBJ is one of 52 projects in 41 states sharing $84.45 million in federal Low-No grant funding.

CBJ received similar Low-No grant funding in 2017 for $408,000. Paired with other grant money from the FTA, Capital Transit is already in the process of purchasing one electric bus and charger from Proterra, which will go into use as soon as it arrives in Juneau at the end of 2019. Capital Transit currently uses three electric cars as support vehicles, purchased through grant funding from the Alaska DOT.

For more information, contact Capital Transit Superintendent Ed Foster at 789-6901 or [email protected].