The Biden administration announced Thursday its allocation of $1.5 billion toward manufacturing electric buses.
White House officials met Wednesday with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to discuss how the government can fund the manufacturing of the electric “buses at the scale and pace needed to meet market demand and achieve national climate and equity goals,” according to an announcement from the White House.
Biden administration investing $1.5B in clean buses – The Hill https://t.co/Rk9plloAgk
— Charlie Davis (@CharlesPDavis) February 9, 2024
Roughly 60 representatives of U.S. transit agencies, manufacturers of buses, component producers and transporters, federal agencies and labor unions met, the readout said. They held a roundtable discussion regarding the transit vehicles and President Biden’s “Investing in America agenda,” the readout stated.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is delivering historic funding to advance clean transit, which is crucial in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the largest emitting sector, transportation,” the announcement said. “This historic funding also helps ensure that all communities are able to access good-paying jobs, schools, and health care.”
The Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law already funds electric buses with more than $11 billion across a period of five years, according to the announcement. More than 2,900 “low- and zero- emission” buses have been funded since the bill was signed into law in Nov. 2021. (RELATED: Energy Sec Denies Biden Said He’d Put Fossil Fuels ‘Out Of Business’)
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg celebrated the investment in a statement by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“More funding for buses means less traffic congestion on the road, less pollution in the air, and more jobs for American workers,” Buttigieg stated. “Thanks to the President’s infrastructure law, we are bringing thousands of new, clean buses to communities large and small across the country.”
The Biden administration previously spent millions of dollars on electric school buses, which are prone to catch fire, according to multiple local reports. Blue Bird electric school buses cost about $400,000 per vehicle, while the company’s diesel school buses cost about $200,000-220,000 per vehicle, according to Electrek.