Grant Transit Authority buying new buses

Grant Transit Authority, which provides bus services through Grant County, will be buying four more buses with federal grant money.

The acquisition of those buses will not add any routes to the Grand Coulee Dam area.

Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell announced Dec. 2 that the Washington State Department of Transportation will receive $3,932,622 in federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration “to provide improved bus service to rural areas across the state,” a press release from her office states.

“WSDOT will receive funding for the replacement and expansion of vehicles and equipment for four transit agencies providing rural service in Clallam, Grant, Island, and Kittitas counties,” the press release states. “The new vehicles will improve safety, access, and mobility for transit riders in rural Washington.”

The funding comes from the FTA’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program.

Greg Wright, the general manager for GTA, said that they will be receiving $1,152,119 in award money, which they are matching with $288,029, putting the total at over $1.4 million. It will be used to buy four replacement buses including two 30-foot diesel buses, and two smaller propane buses.

“We have a very aged fleet,” Wright said. “We try to keep pace with replacement. It’s pretty costly, so when we get a grant like this it’s great.”

Wright said that propane buses are becoming more common.

“Propane is getting to be quite the thing,” he said. “Quite a few transit systems in the state are using them. We started going down that path two years ago. We’ll be using alternative fuels whenever we can.”

Wright said buses have a lifespan of about 12 years, and they’ll put about a million miles on each one.

Wright said that acquiring the buses won’t add any additional routes to the area.