Kauai, Maui, Hawaii counties to receive $5M in federal funding for electric buses

Jul. 3—The Hawaii Department of Transportation and neighbor island counties are set to receive $5.1 million in federal funding to purchase electric buses, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

The counties of Kauai, Maui and Hawaii will each receive funds to help purchase three new electric buses to replace diesel buses that have reached the end of their useful life. The funding will also go towards charging infrastructure.

"Electric buses make our air cleaner, our roads quieter, and reduce the operating costs of our public transit, " said Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing, in a news release. "Hawaii 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."

The funds come from the Federal Transit Administration's Low or No Emission Vehicle Grant Program, which supports state and local transit agencies across the nation in the conversion of their fleets to zero-or low-emission alternatives.

The announcement comes on the heels of, expanding the use of electric vehicles in the state.

Schatz said these funds will help move Hawaii closer to its goal of decarbonizing its economy by 2045.