The transit agencies in Northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas have received competitive federal grants totaling $7.1 million to replace aging buses in their fleets.
Ozark Regional Transit, which provides fixed-route and on-demand services in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas, received a $3.6 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to replace buses destroyed in a January 2017 fire.
The Springdale-based transit agency has been making do with donated vehicles that have exceeded their useful lives.
Rock Region Metro, which provides fixed-route service in Pulaski County, received a grant totaling $3,570,000 to replace aging diesel-powered buses in its fleet with buses powered by compressed natural gas.
Once the new buses go on line in 2020, the state's largest transit agency will have 29 buses powered with compressed natural gas in its fleet versus 30 diesel-powered buses, according to Becca Green, the spokesman for Rock Region.
The grants were awarded through the Federal Transit Administration's buses and facilities infrastructure investment program, which is aimed at improving safety and reliability in the nation's transit systems.
A total of 139 projects in 52 states and territories were awarded $264 million, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Thursday. The Federal Transit Administration is under the department.
"Every day, working families across America rely on buses, and these grants will ensure that these vital services continue to be both safe and efficient," U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement.
Demand for the grants "far exceeded" available money, according to the Federal Transit Administration, which received applications for 453 projects totaling $2 billion from 53 states and territories.
Ozark Regional Transit had asked for $8.5 million. With the money the agency did receive, it expects to purchase between nine and 12 diesel-powered buses, according to Joel Gardner, the executive director for Ozark Regional Transit.
The agency received eight new buses in January, purchased with $114,000 from an insurance settlement over the fire and two $360,000 federal grants.
The remaining $600,000 from the settlement is expected to be combined with the new $3.6 million transit administration grant to buy new buses.
A wind-whipped fire started in the early hours of Jan. 10, 2017, and destroyed 20 buses, depleting the fleet. Explosions sent parts of buses more than three blocks away.
The fire is believed to have started when a particulate filter on the exhaust system of one of the buses overheated during cleaning. Wind gusts of 50 mph fanned the flames through the parked buses. The buses' fiberglass bodies added fuel to the fire.
Ozark Regional Transit used a fleet of lent and borrowed buses to maintain service through most of last year.
Metro on 04/06/2018