COTA gets $22.8 million federal grant for hydrogen fuel-powered electric buses
The Central Ohio Transit Authority announced Wednesday that it received a $22.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to buy 10 hydrogen-fueled buses and a fueling station.
Hydrogen fuel cell electric buses—which produce no emissions—operate via hydrogen gas, which creates electricity to charge a stack of batteries that power the vehicle's motor.
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Columbus hydrogen-fueled COTA buses
The hydrogen-fueled COTA buses will have a range of around 300 miles and can be refueled in 10 minutes or less, according to the press release.
"These grants will help deliver cleaner and greener transportation, designed to reach everyone, and to work for everyone, particularly in places that haven't received enough resources in the past," Veronica Vanterpool, the acting administrator of the FTA, said Wednesday.
As many as 12 hydrogen buses could be in use by 2026, according to the release. COTA's final 22 diesel buses will be retired by the end of this year while 26 electric vehicles join the fleet.
COTA plans to have a zero-emissions bus fleet by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2045.
The grant money comes from the FTA's Low or No Emission Grant Program which started in fiscal year 2016.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: COTA gets federal grant to buy 10 hydrogen fuel-powered electric buses
