Biden administration nearly doubling number of zero-emission buses with infrastructure funds

The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it is nearly doubling the number of zero-emission buses on the road through funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law. 

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced $1.66 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories and states that will facilitate the purchase of 1,800 new buses. Of those, 1,100 will be zero-emission vehicles and will nearly double the number of zero-emission buses on the roads, the FTA said in a press release. 

“With today’s awards, we’re helping communities across America – in cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike – purchase more than 1,800 new buses, and most of them are zero-emission,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a written statement. 

“Funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this announcement means more good jobs for people across the country, cleaner air in our communities, and more affordable and reliable options to help people get to where they need to go,” Buttigieg added. 

The funds represent the first of five years of investments that will total $5.5 billion.

The infrastructure bill contained several measures expected to help the U.S. government mitigate its contribution to climate change, but the investments are not expected to be as significant as those included in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden is expected to sign on Tuesday. 

Transportation is the greatest contributor to climate change in the U.S., representing 27 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.