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Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced today on a conference call with Connecticut reporters that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) will receive $7 million in economic recovery funds to pursue cutting-edge environmental technologies to help reduce global warming, lessen America’s dependence on oil and create green jobs. The Department of Transportation received 561 applications for funds, of which only 43 were selected.
“This is a big win for our state, a big win for our environment, and a big win for folks in Connecticut who rely on public transportation,” said Dodd. “Connecticut is ready to be a national leader when it comes to green transit, and the funding awarded today by Secretary LaHood and Administrator Rogoff will go a long way towards achieving that goal.”
ConnDOT will use the funds to purchase diesel-electric hybrid transit buses and stationary fuel cells for use in Connecticut’s statewide bus system. The grant will fund the additional cost of a purchasing hybrid buses compared with the cost of purchasing a conventional bus. It would also fund the installation of stationary fuel cells to provide primary and emergency back-up power for the bus maintenance and storage facilities. A leader in the fuel cell industry, the state of Connecticut is home to several companies that manufacture fuel cells that could benefit from this funding.
“The leadership and vision of Senator Dodd made this program a critical component of the Recovery Act,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff, who joined Dodd on the conference call. “It is no surprise that his state competes so well when it comes to proposing ways to provide citizens with public transportation that reduces pollution and creates a cleaner, safer environment for the nation.”
Senator Dodd, the Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, was the author of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’s Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) program, under which ConnDOT is receiving the $7 million grant.
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