The Federal Transit Administration has awarded the City of Lawrence in their bid for two zero-emission electric buses that will serve the city and the university for many years to come.

The competitive “Low- or No-Emission” grant program finances purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses and supporting facilities such as charging infrastructure. This is the second year in a row that Lawrence has been awarded this grant.

In 2020, Lawrence Transit was awarded the grant from the FTA for $3,765,000 to remove five diesel-fueled buses that have exceeded their useful life from service and deploy five zero-emission battery electric buses in their place. These buses and charging stations are currently on order and are expected to be in service in 2022.

The current grant award of $1,815,750 will allow Lawrence Transit to purchase two additional buses and charging stations and remove two additional diesel buses from service. The grant requires a local match of $694,250 which the city has already budgeted as part of their fleet replacement and sustainability goals.

“To meet City of Lawrence goals for sustainability, we hope to never purchase another diesel bus again,” said Adam Weigel, Transit and Parking Manager. “This award will make nearly a third of the fixed route fleet all-electric and keep us on track to meet Lawrence’s bold sustainability goals.”

The city has a goal of converting 100% of their fleet of vehicles to clean energy by 2035 and the award of these grants will allow the City of Lawrence and KU to reach sustainability goals stated in the climate action plan.

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