Michigan’s transportation systems get a green boost

Ann Arbor and Detroit transit authorities are sharing more than $55 million in federal funds to purchase hydrogen-powered and diesel-electric hybrid buses.

Federal officials announced Tuesday that the Detroit Department of Transportation will receive $30.7 million and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority will receive $25 million.

Veronica Vanterpool is deputy commissioner of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). She believes that investing in environmentally friendly American transportation will help increase public transit use.

“We know there’s a big push for public transit in this state,” Vanterpool said. “This is also a state and a place with a lot of ridership.”

These grants are part of about $1.5 billion in federal grants announced this week to support 117 public transportation projects in 47 states.

Two other projects in Michigan will receive money from the federal program.

The Harbor Transit Multi-Modal Transportation System in Grand Haven will receive $16 million to design and build a multimodal system operations center to enable the transition to a zero-emissions fleet with fueling and charging devices.

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi will receive $539,000 to replace an aging diesel vehicle with a new clean diesel bus.

As part of the Federal Infrastructure Act, the FTA has provided nearly $5 billion over the past three years to replace and modernize transit buses on America’s roads, developing new technologies with American workers, and more than 4,600 new buses are being built in U.S. factories.