The funding comes from Federal Transit Administration programs, which will award about 20-and-a-half million dollars to the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority and $15 million to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
That’s along with another $198 million to California transit agencies and approximately one-and-a-half billion dollars in total funding to 117 transit projects across 47 states, according to the office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and the office of U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland.
With the funding, the WestCAT and AC Transit will replace their older diesel buses with hydrogen fuel cell buses and expand their hydrogen fueling stations and maintenance facilities. The projects will also boost workforce training to support the agencies' transitions to wholly zero-emission fleets, the legislators' offices said.
WestCAT and AC Transit, along with other transit agencies, secured their funding by proposing their respective projects in applications to the Department of Transportation, said Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for Lee's office.
The transition to low- and no-emission transit fleets will improve air quality in the region, the offices said.