DES MOINES, Iowa — Editor's Note: The video above is from June 10. Read more here.
Soon there will be nine battery-electric buses added to Iowa's arsenal of electric vehicles.
The Federal Transit Administration announced a $2.8 million grant for the purchase of low-and no-emission transit buses and related infrastructure for the state.
The Iowa Department of Transportation decided to use the grant to purchase the buses and the charging infrastructure needed to support them.
The buses will be used across three multi-county transit agencies in Iowa, including East Central Iowa Council of Governments (CorridorRides), Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency and Southeast Iowa Bus.
“These buses will be the first of their kind deployed in rural Iowa. While there have been some battery-electric buses used in our larger cities, these buses will be put into service to serve the more rural parts of our state,” said Brent Paulsen, transit programs administrator in the Iowa DOT’s Modal Transportation Bureau.
The DOT is partnering with nonprofit CALSTART and Alliant Energy for the project.
Watch: What are the environmental impacts of EVs? Where do renewable fuels fit in?
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