Congresswoman Matsui Announces Nearly $6.8 Million for Sacramento Regional Transit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
CONTACT: MARA LEE
(202) 225-7163
Congresswoman Matsui Announces Nearly $6.8 Million for Sacramento Regional Transit
Federal Funding Will Enable Transition to Natural Gas Buses; Purchase of New Paratransit Vehicles
CA Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced that the Sacramento Regional Transit District (RT) has been awarded nearly $6.8 million in federal funding to modernize RT's bus fleet, facilitating the transition to using natural gas and providing better service for its riders. $5,000,000 will enable the replacement of buses in RT's fleet that are beyond their useful lives with compressed natural gas buses. An additional $ 1,763,750 grant has been provided for RT's handicap transit service.
Sacramento Regional Transit provides an irreplaceable service for its riders, but the replacement of old buses with new, natural gas buses and new paratransit vehicles will not only make RT safer for its riders, but reduce its impact on the environment, and provide Sacramentans more efficient, more reliable buses on which to travel, said Congresswoman Matsui. I am pleased to announce these additional federal funds to support RT and the thousands of people who depend on their services each and every day.
Last year, RT carried over 26 million public transit passengers and we are excited to see this new injection of federal funding will allow us to provide our riders with improved bus service. We strive to meet the transportation goals of the region and are grateful for Congresswoman Matsui's leadership. This timely funding will ensure the delivery of new bus and paratransit vehicles to meet the region's public transit demand. RT is pleased to have led this grant application effort to secure FTA funding in collaboration with other Greater Sacramento area transit providers to improve their state of good repair, said Mike Wiley, General Manager/CEO, Sacramento Regional Transit District.
These grant funds will make sure that bus service in our communities remains reliable and desirable while putting thousands of Americans to work at the same time, said FTA Administrator Rogoff.
The federal funding were made available by Fiscal Year 2011 monies, through competitive grants distributed via the State of Good Repair Program at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant selection process was highly competitive, and FTA reviewed 839 project applications representing $4.9 billion in funding requests from transit providers across the country.
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