Maui Set to Get Federal Funds to Help Purchase Three Battery Electric Buses

A total of $5.15 million in new federal funding will go to the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation for the purchase of battery electric buses and charging infrastructure on Maui, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island.

The funds will allow for go toward the purchase of three new electric busses in each of the counties identified. The new buses will replace diesel buses that have reached the end of their useful life.

US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) made the funding announcement saying, “Electric buses make our air cleaner, our roads quieter, and reduce the operating costs of our public transit.” Sen. Schatz, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing said, “Hawai‘i has been a leader in clean energy, and this new federal funding will make it easier for people to get around, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.”

He said the funds will help move the state closer to its goal of decarbonizing its economy by 2045.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation received this grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Grant Program, which supports transit agencies across the country working to convert their fleets to zero-emission and low-emission alternatives.