The state Department of Transportation, partnering with the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui, will receive $5.15 million in new federal funding to purchase battery electric buses and charging infrastructure for each of the counties, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) announced Thursday.
“Electric buses make our air cleaner, our roads quieter, and reduce the operating costs of our public transit,” said Senator Schatz, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing. “Hawaii has been a leader in clean energy, and this new federal funding will make it easier for people to get around, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.”
Each county will receive funds to help purchase three new electric buses, which will replace diesel buses that have reached the end of their useful life. These funds will help move the state closer to its goal of decarbonizing its economy by 2045, Schatz said.
The state Department of Transportation received this grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Grant Program, which supports transit agencies across the country working to convert their fleets to zero-emission and low-emission alternatives.