Funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which passed earlier this year

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced today that Michigan public transit agencies can apply for grant funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through the Department of Transportation (DOT) for capital investments that will assist in reducing the energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions of public transportation systems. A total of $100 million will be made available to communities across the nation through a competitive grant process based on proposals put together by local transit agencies and submitted by May 22, 2009.

“Investing in energy efficient vehicles and public transit systems is vital to our state’s continued leadership in the emerging green economy,” said Stabenow. “I am pleased that transit agencies throughout our state will be able to apply for this grant funding, so they can implement new projects that create good-paying jobs.”

“Investments that will create jobs promptly and benefit citizens in the long term are exactly what the economy needs.” Levin said. “These grants have great potential to help Michigan communities improve public transportation and lead the way nationally in the use of green technologies.”

Grant funding will be awarded as part of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy (TIGGER) grant program. Projects will compete for a portion of the funds on the basis of how much their proposed capital investment is expected to reduce either energy consumption or greenhouse gases, or both. The maximum proposal request is $25 million and the minimum is $2 million.

The FTA will allow multiple transit agencies to consolidate their projects within one proposal to reach the minimum level. Transit agency proposals or consolidated proposals can be submitted on behalf of transit agencies by other organization such as state departments of transportation. Grants will be made for particular projects directly to public transportation agencies. In addition to the anticipated reduction in energy or greenhouse gasses, the projects will be rated on their return on investment, and whether a proposal is a good example of this kind of project and is something the can be replicated elsewhere.

FTA will post application instructions as well as answers to common questions and a calculator to assist in determining reductions of energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions on its website at www.fta.dot.gov.