Rep. Peter DeFazio Secures Nearly $3.5 Million for Zero-Emission Electric Buses for Lane Transit District

Rep. Peter DeFazio today announced that the Department of Transportation has awarded Lane Transit District a grant totaling nearly $3.5 million to purchase and deploy five Zero-Emission electric buses.

The grant is part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Program, which was authorized in the FAST Act of 2015. As the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. DeFazio was a key negotiator of the FAST Act.

The new buses will replace old diesel buses that consume 39,114 gallons of diesel fuel and idle for an estimated 2951 hours each year. These new vehicles will allow LTD to significantly reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses and particulate matter.

“It’s essential that urban areas across the country have the opportunity to upgrade their public transportation to cleaner, more environmentally-friendly models,” said Rep. DeFazio. “I’m proud that Eugene and Springfield will now be able to offer state-of-the-art public transportation that will improve our area’s air quality, environmental impact, and overall standard of living.”  

"These five new all electric buses are an important part of LTD's work to modernize its aging fleet and deliver better transit service,” said A.J. Jackson, General Manager, Lane Transit District. “The FAST Act's investment in public transportation will ensure LTD's ability to deliver high-quality, reliable, transit service in efficient vehicles that eliminate diesel emissions."

It’s estimated that the replacement of the older buses will prevent the emission of 399.5 metric tons of CO2-equivalent (CO2-e) emissions and .126 metric tons of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) into the air each year.