Public transit gets $3.7B to woo riders, adopt green fleets

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public transit systems straining to win back riders after crushing waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are getting a $3.7 billion boost to stay afloat and invest in new fleets of electric buses.

With mask restrictions fading and workers beginning to return to offices, the Biden administration said Monday it was awarding $2.2 billion in coronavirus relief funding to 35 financially strapped transit agencies in 18 states. The money would be used to prop up day-to-day operations, including staffing and payroll as well as cleaning and sanitization to limit the spread of illness in public transportation. A federal mask mandate for public transit remains in effect until at least March 18.

Another $1.5 billion in grants will be available under President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law — a total of $7.5 billion over five years — for transit agencies to purchase low- or no-emission buses and build bus facilities. That’s more than double the combined amount from the previous year.

Transit agencies will have until May to apply for the Transportation Department's infrastructure grants, which will be awarded by fall. About 5% of the money must be used for workforce training to help transit workers prepare for the technological change.

“We’re making the largest ever investment in this program for buses and bus facilities, helping to deliver better commutes and cleaner air to American communities,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg was joining Vice President Kamala Harris, who has pushed the need for electric school buses, along with EPA Administrator Michael Regan and other officials at the White House on Monday. They were unveiling efforts to promote green-friendly transit and announcing a proposed rule aimed at reducing emissions from dirty...