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Honolulu to Receive $1.45M in Federal Funds for Electric Buses

One zero-emission electric bus could eliminate nearly 1,700 tons of carbon pollution over its 12-year life span, the equivalent of taking 27 cars off the road.

(TNS) -- U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Monday that the federal government will award $1.45 million to the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services for the purchase and deployment of fully electric buses.

“Hawai‘i has long been a leader in clean energy, and the city of Honolulu is building on that legacy by transitioning to buses that will keep our air clean,” Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a news release. “I’m glad that this funding will take our state one step closer to reaching our goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.”

Schatz’s office said a zero-emission electric bus could eliminate nearly 1,700 tons of carbon pollution over its 12-year life span, the equivalent of taking 27 cars off the road.

The funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation is part of Honolulu’s ongoing effort to electrify its public transit operation through public-private partnerships. Hawaiian Electric is expected to install the electric infrastructure for up to five battery-electric buses, while Gillig Corp., the largest all-American bus manufacturer in the United States, will produce the buses.

©2017 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.