DOVER – Delaware Transit Corporation (DTC) has received $11 million from Federal Transit Administration Low-No Program to transition the nation's transit fleet to energy efficient transit vehicles. The agency has now received more than $22 million through five separate federal grants to support the purchase of alternative-fueled buses.

DTC will use this funding to purchase two battery-electric buses and two hydrogen-fuel-cell electric buses, install two overhead electric charging stations, a large charger that would contain as many as 16 individual chargers, and a hydrogen fueling station.

These new buses will add to the current fleet of 26 electric buses, or about 10 percent of the total fleet of fixed route buses.

“Last fall, I announced Delaware’s comprehensive Climate Action Plan that includes the goal of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent by 2025,” Governor John Carney said in a statement. “These continued investments are an important step in our efforts to address the leading source of these emissions which come from transportation.”

U.S. Senator Tom Carper, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, championed these federal programs in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Delaware’s congressional delegation of Senators Carper and Chris Coons, along with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester voted for the law, which invests in our nation’s infrastructure while combating climate change by investing in transportation electrification.

“Delaware is well on its way to transitioning its transit fleet to cleaner, energy efficient vehicles thanks to federal funding we worked hard to secure,” the delegation said. “Electric vehicles will help us achieve our shared climate goals, reduce harmful pollution, and foster economic opportunity.”

Delaware Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski added, “We are committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and each diesel bus we replace from our fleet with an energy efficient bus contributes to the state’s ongoing efforts to improve our air quality.”

“I’m very proud of the hard work and dedication put in the by the team here at DTC to reduce harmful emissions from the communities we serve by transitioning our fleet to low and zero emission buses,”  Delaware Transit Corporation CEO John Sisson said. “This grant will allow us to continue these efforts to provide safe, clean and reliable transit services to the people of Delaware.”