The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) has been awarded $3.1 million in grant funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to purchase hybrid-electric buses, as TANK replaces aging transit buses through an ongoing fleet replacement program.
“TANK’s mission is to provide safe, reliable transit services to the people of Northern Kentucky, while keeping abreast of technology and working to use resources in a responsible way,” said TANK Interim General Manager Gina Douthat.
“Federal funds like these are critical in driving that mission and allowing us to continue to provide reliable and sustainable public transportation to our community.”
The grant comes from the FTA’s Low-No program, designed to replace traditional diesel buses with low and no-emission vehicles.
This grant will provide gap funding to allow portions of TANK’s next two diesel bus orders (14 buses) to be upgraded to hybrid-electric buses.
A new bus costs approximately $500,000 for standard diesel buses and up to nearly $800,000 for hybrid-electric buses.
TANK currently has 100 buses in its fleet; 23 of them are hybrid-electric.
This funding provides the direct benefit of introducing more fuel-efficiency into the fleet while at the same time reducing the number of buses in circulation past their useful life.