Federal Funds Turn Cape Buses Green

A new $14.6M federal grant helps CCRTA flip diesel buses electric. After the newest additions, more than half the Cape's public buses will be low emission vehicles.

What did the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority receive?

01 AUGUST 2024 — HYANNIS, MA — The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) will be using a new $14.6 million dollar federal grant to replace old diesel buses with new electric ones. The grant was awarded in a ceremony on August 01 at the Regional Transportation Center in Hyannis.

What will the grant do?

CCRTA Administrator Tom Cahir says the investment makes a very real difference for Cape Cod. It will bring 13 additional low emission buses to replace old diesel vehicles as well as offering workforce training for the new vehicle technology.  Once the newest vehicles arrive, the fleet will be more than 50% low emission vehicles.

"It is an on-going effort to make sure that we create not only efficient service, affordable service, safe service, but clean service," Cahir said, noting that transportation contributes a large portion of the region's greenhouse gas emissions.

Are electric buses new?

The cleaning and greening of the CCRTA fleet began in earnest about 4 years ago as part of strategic plan to move from dirty diesel to zero emissions. The agency previously brought in 20 hybrid electric Transit vans – aka the smaller busses run past part of the Mass Mobility Program and Used in the CCRTA’s Dial a Ride (DART) program. It also received $7.6 million from the Volkswagen emission cheating settlement with the federal government and used that to order six large low emission buses.

This newest grant takes the transition one more critical step forward – after the new Gillig buses have been delivered in September 2025,  more than half the fleet will be low emission vehicles.