The United States Department of Transportation announced Friday that $8.9 million would be awarded to Wisconsin to develop state transportation infrastructure.
$8.8 million will go to the Wisconsin DOT to purchase 21 buses, 15 vans and 13 automobiles, as well as to renovate transit facilities. The remaining $29,877 will be used to fund a hybrid bus purchase program for the Oshkosh Transit System.
“Rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure is a key part of that prescription for strength. It creates jobs today and builds a better, more sustainable economy moving forward,” Ray LaHood, secretary of the DOT, said in a statement.
This new wave of stimulus funds comes as the final step for the Federal Transit Administration in awarding 100 percent of its stimulus funds from the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to an FTA statement.
The FTA is the branch of the U.S. DOT responsible for allocating stimulus funds for transit projects across the country.
“It is helping our state and local economies,” said Dave Vickman, transit coordinator for the Oshkosh transportation system. “Most grants also have a ‘buy America’ clause, which assures that all of the equipment purchased is manufactured in the U.S.”
Vickman added the money the state will be receiving is to supplement previous stimulus money granted earlier last year.
In April 2009, more than $23 million from the Recovery Act were approved by the DOT for stimulus projects in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin DOT. The money went to transit projects in 14 different cities across the state.
The new $8.9 million in funding is to start new transit projects and finish projects from the initial 2009 stimulus.
“The money is very helpful. It allowed us to renovate an aging bus fleet. By allowing us to upgrade our fleet, we can save local funding for local projects,” Vickman said.
These grants are part of $7.5 billion awarded by the FTA since the Recovery Act was initiated in Feb. 2009. The stimulus money has helped to purchase over 12,000 transit vehicles, renovate over 800 facilities, and initiated over $600 million in preventative maintenance, according to a statement from U.S. DOT.
The FTA and the Wisconsin DOT both have to approve funding for projects before it can be allocated. As long as the projects meet FTA criterion, it is left up to the discretion of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to individually choose projects to fund.
“These funds are creating jobs now while investing in the future of our transit systems,” Administrator Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transit Administration said. “The public’s demand for transit service continues to grow, and these dollars will help meet that need.”
Currently, the U.S. DOT has only awarded $36.8 billion of the total $48.1 billion available for highway and bridge, rail transit, small shipyards and airport construction and repairs nationwide. The funds will support 13,700 projects in 55 states and territories nationally.