The U.S. DOT announced today that 43 local transit agencies from more than two dozen states would share the $100 million in competitive clean-transport grants included in this winter's $787 billion economic stimulus law.
Atlanta's transit system, pictured above, won $10.8 million in stimulus aid. (Photo: Atlanta MetBlogs)The big winners in the bid for extra transit stimulus money were Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Oakland, and the state of Connecticut, all of which won more than $4 million in federal aid to modernize and upgrade their transit systems.
Atlanta's metro transit authority will use its $10.8 million grant to erect the state's largest solar-panel installation, while Los Angeles won $4.5 million for a plan to store and re-utilize the energy produced by braking subway trains.
Today's show of federal support for transit may be just a prelude, however; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is currently evaluating a flood of bids for the stimulus law's $1.5 billion in competitive TIGER grants, which are open to all modes of transportation. Winners of money from the TIGER program -- its full name is Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery -- could be announced as soon as this fall.
After the jump, check out the full list of the transit agencies that won federal grants, along with their proposed projects, as released today by the U.S. DOT.
Alabama: Montgomery Area Transit System (Montomery), $2,675,000. Purchase of Five Hybrid Electric Buses: City of Montgomery-MATSproposes to purchase 30-35 foot low floor hybrid-electric buses inorder to replace existing transit system buses.
California: AC Transit (Hayward, headquarters in Oakland), $6,400,000. Install photovoltaic capacity to generate "green" hydrogen: Installmultiple PV modules at its Central Maintenance Facility in Hayward.Combined with AC Transit's already-installed solar capacity, this solarinstallation will produce the renewable electricity equivalent to whatwill be required to produce 180 kg/day of "green" hydrogen.
California: City of Santa Clarita, $4,620,000. PhotovoltaicModules on Transit Maintenance Facility: Add photovoltaic (PV) modulesto the Transit Maintenance Facility (TMF) to generate electricity tooffset the electric power consumed at the TMF site. The PV modules willbe placed on top of canopies that will generate electricity whileproviding shade for full-size inter-city and commuter buses.
California: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Los Angeles), $4,466,000. Red Line Westlake Rail Wayside Energy Storage System: Install waysideenergy storage substation (WESS) at Westlake passenger station isat-grade level on the high-speed heavy rail subway Red Line. The nearbytraction power substation will be switched off when the WESS isoperating. The WESS flywheel technology captures regenerative brakingenergy when trains slow or stop and transfer back to same train oranother train when it starts or accelerates, reducing energy demand andpeak power requirements.
California: North County Transit District (North San Diego, headquarters in Oceanside), $2,000,000. PV Solar Implementation at facilities: Install PV solar in a variety of facilities.
Colorado: Denver Regional Transportation District (Aurora, headquarters in Denver), $770,000. Heating upgrades at East Metro bus maintenance facility: To improvethe heating system at its East Metro bus maintenance facility locatedin Aurora, CO. This project will replace the three existing boilerswith three new 15-psi, 20-ppm NOx boilers with Advanced Hawk IntegratedControl Systems. The advanced control system will operate the boilersbased on load demand as opposed to outside temperature.
Colorado: Denver Regional Transportation District (Boulder, headquarters in Denver), $325,000. Heating upgrades at Boulder bus maintenance facility: To improve theheating system at its Boulder bus maintenance facility located inBoulder, CO. This project will replace two old boilers with four new2.5 MBtu Clearfire condensing boilers with 20-ppm low NOx burners. Anupdated control system will allow the boilers to be reset based onoutdoor air temperatures, will reduce cycling of the boilers, and willserve as a boiler master controller that will stage the boilers basedon demand loading.
Connecticut: Connecticut Department of Transportation (statewide) $7,000,000. Stationary Fuel Cells and Hybrid Transit Buses Incremental Costs: Thepurchase of diesel-electric hybrid transit buses and stationary fuelcells for use in the statewide bus system in Connecticut. This grantwould allow ConnDOT to upgrade the upcoming purchases of buses andwould fund the incremental cost of a hybrid bus compared to aconventional bus. It would also fund stationary fuel cells to provideprimary and emergency back-up power for the bus maintenance and storagefacilities.
Delaware: Delaware Transit Corporation (statewide), $1,500,000. Solar Panel Installations at DTC facilities: Retrofits DelawareTransit Corporation facilities with solar panels, which will generatecost savings through fossil fuel energy reductions.
Florida: Palm Tran (West Palm Beach), $320,000. Diesel Bus Efficiency Improvements with Thermal Motor Fans: Purchaseand install Thermal Motor Fans for diesel buses to improve busefficiency and lower fuel costs.
Florida: Broward County Transit, $2,000,000. Diesel Bus Efficiency Improvements bus cooling System retrofits: Replace the mechanically/hydraulically driven cooling system on buseswith electrically powered devices in order to achieve fuel savings andreductions in energy and greenhouse gas emissions. BCT will purchaseand install MiniHybrid Thermal Systems ("MH8") from EMP AdvancedDevelopment LLC (EMP) which will increase fuel efficiency by 5 percent.
Georgia: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, $10,800,000. Laredo Bus Facility Solar Canopies: Provide shade structures withintegrated, grid tied photovoltaic cells to be erected on the busstorage lot at the Laredo Bus Maintenance Facility. PV canopies willproduce power and reduce temperatures underneath canopies. MARTAanticipates that the power produced by these photovoltaic panels willbe sold to Georgia Power under their Distributed Generation ContractProgram. The largest PV installation in Georgia.
Iowa: Ames Transit Agency (Ames, CyRide), $1,600,000. Hybrid bus purchase incremental costs: Upgrade forty-foot diesel buses on order to hybrid electric buses.
Illinois: Illinois Department of Transportation on behalf of seven transit agencies (statewide), $4,030,000. Statewide Paratransit Bus Hybrid Program: Purchase 31 paratransithybrid buses to replace 31 gas and diesel vehicles. Buses will bepowered by an Azure Dynamics hybrid system of Michigan. Agenciesinclude Champaign Urbana, MTD; Rockford MTD; St Clair MTD; SpringfieldMTD; PACE Suburban Bus; Rock Island MTD; Bloomington-Normal PublicTransit System.
Illinois: Chicago Transit Authority (Chicago), $1,500,000. North Park Electrification - Electric Power Delivery System for OutdoorBus Parking: Construct electrified stalls that will deliver electricalpower for up to 80 vehicles and provide services such as heating andair-conditioning to vehicles that would otherwise be left idling duringovernight cleaning and prior to morning pullout.
Illinois: Rock Island Metro (Rock Island), $600,000. Solar Thermal System: A solar thermal system on the building roof willprovide hot water for the operations building and the maintenancebuilding. This is a solar thermal project not based on PV-based solar.
Illinois: Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District – CUMTD (Champaign-Urbana), $450,000. Facility upgrade with Geothermal Heat Pump System: CUMTD will replacethe existing conventional HVAC system with an efficient geothermal HVACsystem. Geothermal HVAC systems are highly effective system withimproved efficiencies over conventional systems due to the heatexchange process with an underground source that maintains a nearconstant temperatures.
Indiana: Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation (Lafayette), $2,180,000. Wind Energy Project: GLPTC seeks to reduce its electrical energy usageby investing in a renewable source of energy to be generated by windusing equipment on site. The primary use of electrical energy by GLPTCis by its garage and maintenance facilities. The installation of windturbine units on GLPTC premises is projected to provide a significantamount of the total amount of electrical energy used by CityBus.
Massachusetts: Lowell Regional Transit Authority (Lowell), $1,500,000. Hale Street Solar Photovoltaic system: The installation of aphotovoltaic panel array on the roof of the Hale Street garage facilityowned by the LRTA. The facility is used by the LRTA to store, fuel,maintain, and repair transportation vehicles (buses, vans, tow trucksetc.) as well as administrative and dispatch services. The facility isa 70,000 square foot building located in an industrial zone in Lowell,Massachusetts.
Massachusetts: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Boston), $2,500,000. Renewable Wind Energy: MBTA will design and construct wind energygeneration turbines in eastern Massachusetts (from among Kingston,Newburyport, Bridgewater).
Maryland: Maryland Transit Administration (statewide), $522,000. Halon1301 Replacement: The MTA currently has approximately 5 metric tons ofHalon 1301 (CBrF3) deployed at 24 MTA facilities in and surroundingBaltimore City. Each metric ton of Halon 1301 released to theatmosphere - intentionally or inadvertently - is equivalent toreleasing 6,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The scope of thisproject includes destruction of MTA's inventory of Halon 1301 andreplacement with another clean agent.
Michigan: Thunder Bay Transportation Authority – TBTA (Alpena), $2,590,000. Plug-in hybrid buses purchase: Replace 4 diesel buses with 4 seriesplug-in hybrid buses, operate in a non-urban/rural area and collectdata for two years. Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) willprovide technical assistance to TBTA.
Michigan: Flint Mass Transportation Authority (Flint), $2,200,000. Ultra-light Zero Emissions Buses: Replaces two of Flint MTA dieselbuses with advanced all-electric Zero-Emissions GTB-40 buses fromFisher Coachworks. The new Fisher buses will provide more than triplethe equivalent fuel economy in all-electric mode and reduce CO2emissions due to the extensive use of lightweight materials and thelarge capacity battery system.
Minnesota: Productive Alternatives/Transit Alternatives (Fergus Falls), $845,000. Energy Reduction Consolidated Projects: A variety of buildingenergy-efficiency upgrades, hybrid vehicle upgrades, wind generatorpower systems, and the equipment needed to convert cooking oil to ablend with vehicle fuel to operate some of their buses.
Minnesota: Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Council (Minneapolis), $1,100,000. Replace Diesel Buses with Gas Hybrid Electric Buses: Metro Mobility isscheduled to replace small diesel buses that have operated over255,000. The proposed replacement vehicles include small gas/electrichybrid buses.
North Carolina: City of Charlotte/Charlotte Area Transit System (Charlotte), $3,000,000. Hybrid Buses: Upgrade a planned order of buses from diesel to hybridtechnology. CATS' fleet and financial plans call for the replacement1998, 1999 and 2007 year diesel buses with new diesel buses in fiscalyear 2012. This project will upgrade the replacement buses to hybridtechnology.
New Jersey: NJ Transit (statewide), $250,000. Efficient Air Compressor Systems at NJ TRANSIT Facilities: NJ TRANSITcompleted energy audits of its 20 largest facilities and identified aircompressor conservation opportunities including variable frequencydrives and increased air storage at 5 locations. These projects improvethe working environment, conserve energy, reduce operating/maintenancecosts and reduce GHG emissions for a ten-year lifecycle.
Nevada: Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (Reno), $3,000,000. DieselElectric Hybrid Articulated Buses: Purchase low floor 60' hybridelectric diesel articulated buses to replace 40' and 35' diesel buses.
New York: Capital District Transportation Authority (Albany), $3,520,000. Hybrid Electric Buses Incremental Costs: For the incremental cost of making transit buses hybrid electric.
New York: New York City Transit Department of Subways (New York City), $2,000,000. Remote 3rd Rail Heaters Monitoring and Control System: Installwireless control points linked to 3rd rail heaters in two phases. Theproject will allow these 3rd rail heaters to be remotely monitored andturned on and off from a central control location depending on weatherconditions, thus minimizing electricity use and eliminating wastedenergy. TIGGER will fund the labor portion of the project only.Material is being financed and procured through the New York PowerAuthority.
Ohio: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (Cleveland), $2,257,000. Facility Energy Conservation Project: Based on the results of acomprehensive conservation analysis, GCRTA will implement aconservation project with energy procurements and retrofit resulting insignificant cost savings. Includes replacement of lighting fixtures,control systems, and roof upgrades at selected facilities.
Oregon: Lane Transit District (Eugene), $3,000,000. Hybrid Transit Buses Incremental Costs: For the incremental cost ofhybrid-electric propulsion on 40-foot replacement buses. The buses tobe replaced are diesel propulsion and have been in service since 1994.
Oregon: Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Portland), $750,000. Diesel Bus Efficiency Improvements with Bus Cooling System Retrofits: Replace the existing hydraulically-powered engine cooling system with amore efficient electrically powered system. This technology has beenshown at TriMet to improve fuel mileage by over 5 percent.
Pennsylvania: Red Rose Transit Authority – RRTA (Lancaster), $2,450,000. RRTA's Operations and Administrative Center Facility Upgrades: Addenergy improvements to the planned upgrade of Red Rose Transit's mainoperations facility in Lancaster, PA. Energy improvements includegeothermal for heating and air conditioning, skylights and light tubesto reduce lighting fixture needs, solar panels on all available roofsurfaces to produce electricity, a green roof on the new officeaddition, two waste oil burners to heat the vehicle storage buildingusing waste oil generated by RRTA from the vehicle fleet, and energyefficient fixtures throughout the facility.
Rhode Island: Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority – RIPTA (statewide), $345,000. Lighting Conversion and Upgrades for Facilities: Converting thelighting system at four RIPTA facilities to more energy efficientsystems. The benefits of this project were identified as part of arecent energy review conducted of RIPTA facilities by Northern EnergyServices. The project would entail installing new highly efficientcompact fluorescent light fixtures in RIPTA facilities.
Tennessee: Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (Chattanooga), $650,000. Lighting Upgrades for Facilities: Purchase and installation ofapproximately 1,724 existing fluorescent lights with LED lighting inseven areas of operation. This project would encompass CARTA's parkinggarage facilities, bus barn and shop, service lane, steam room, andmaintenance shop.
Texas: VIA Metropolitan Transit (San Antonio), $5,000,000. Composite body electric buses: Replace conventional diesel transitbuses with 35-ft composite body electric transit buses. The projectincludes quick-charging stations at this terminal layover in route torecharge bus batteries. Grid sourced electrical energy used to rechargethe bus batteries will be augmented with solar energy collected withpanels procured and installed under this project.
Virginia: Arlington Transit – ART (Arlington), $1,500,000. CNG-Hybrid Buses: Purchase CNG-Hybrid buses to replace Ford Dieselvehicles in the ART fleet. The CNG-Hybrid buses are heavy duty andlarger than the current light duty Ford vehicles.
Washington: Snohomish County Public Transit Benefit Area – Community Transit (Everett), $3,000,000. Hybrid Bus Transit Incremental Costs: The incremental cost of a hybridpropulsion system on 30 forty foot diesel buses that are already beingprocured.
Washington: Link Transit (Chelan-Wenatchee), $2,925,000. Battery Powered Zero Emission Circulator Buses: Innovative QuickOpportunity Charge, Lithium-Ion "Titanate" Battery Powered CommunityBus program. This project replaces five diesel powered buses operatingon high frequency circulator routes and will also create a "quickcharge" automated opportunity charge station with two charging podiumsat Link Transit's Intermodal Transportation Center. An additionalmanual charging station would be installed at Operations Base.
Washington: Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area (Vancouver), $1,500,000. Facility Improvement Project: Improve various systems and installsolar panels at several Clark County facilities. System improvementsinclude high performance fluorescent lighting, LED exit signs,retrofitting existing pole lights; and installing occupancy sensors forprivate offices, conference rooms and bathrooms. HVAC upgrades includeDDC control system covering all buildings, expanded control system withadvanced control strategies. Solar PV system installations range from5kW to 20kW.
Wisconsin: Madison Metro Transit (Madison), $150,000. LightingUpgrades in Bus Storage and Maintenance Garage areas: This project willinstall replacement lighting in bus storage and maintenance garageareas.
Wisconsin: Milwaukee County Department of Transportation and Public Works (Milwaukee), $210,000. Purchase gasoline-electric hybrid vans: Gasoline-electric hybrid vanswill be purchased to replace gasoline-powered vans used by transitsupervisors.
