WLBT: Jackson receives $13.7M grant for clean energy public transportation

Anthony Warren, WLBT

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A federal grant will help Jackson update its fleet of low and no-emission public transit vehicles.

On Monday, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced the city had received a $13.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will be used to purchase additional diesel-electric hybrid buses.

“We are very excited about this opportunity and thankful to the Biden/Harris administration and Congressman Bennie Thompson for making this funding a reality,” Lumumba said. “This is particularly important to JTRAN and the city of Jackson as we continue to re-envision the role of transportation to our communities.”

Deputy Director of Transportation Christine Welch echoed the mayor’s sentiments, saying the $13.7 million is “one of the largest awards the city of Jackson has ever received for the advancement of the fleet and the system in the city of Jackson.”

She said funds will go toward purchasing additional 35 and 40-foot hybrid buses, as well as electric vans with charging stations. She said those vehicles would be equipped with air purification systems and touchless fare systems.

“We’re very excited to take that next step to advance the transit system for the city of Jackson, and [reduce] our run times,” she said.

The city applied for a $20 million grant. The award represents about 75 percent of that request. It comes about two years after Jackson received a previous $8.7 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to implement findings from Jackson’s “Connect JXN Transit Plan.”

Lumumba touted other improvements to JTRAN since taking office, including making upgrades to bus shelters and implementing a new app to let riders know when a bus on their route is expected to arrive.

“We’re going to continue to push this,” he said. “We’re going to continue to be smart in how we think about transportation in our city.”

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