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Transportation gets stimulus - Buses, trains rolling as federal money kicks in

California has been awarded $83.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act transit funding, and two San Gabriel Valley cities are going to tap into that money.

Montebello will get $1.9 million to buy three 40-foot buses that run on compressed natural gas, or CNG. Part of the money will also be used for operating assistance.

Another $63,287 will go to La Mirada for bus security cameras and maintenance equipment.

The grants are aimed at creating jobs through construction and renovations at transit facilities, purchases of new vehicles and equipment, and the performance of preventive maintenance work.

"We're very thankful that they approved this," said Aurora Jackson, Montebello's director of transportation. "The money is very timely, and it will assist us in meeting our air-quality standards with CNG buses."

The bulk of Montebello's share - $1.3 million - will go toward the purchase of the CNG buses. The remaining $600,000 will be used to retain employees.

Jackson said cities throughout California are struggling because state transit assistance money that had been in place since the Reagan administration is no longer there. And that has left Montebello and scores of other communities out in the cold.

"This year, we received no funding from that," Jackson said. "But we did get money in a previous round of funding to build a CNG refueling facility."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the stimulus money will serve several purposes.

"These critical investments will put Californians to work on transit projects that will ease congestion, improve air quality and speed Californians on their way to work and school," she said in a statement.

Since February 2009, the Federal Transit Administration has awarded 881 Recovery Act grants for transit projects nationwide totaling $7.5 billion.

In this latest $83.9 million round of funding, 30 California cities, transportation agencies and organization received a piece of the money.

The largest chunks of the federal funding have been earmarked for the San Francisco area.

Bay Area Rapid Transit will get $17 million for railcar and station equipment improvements, and the Municipal Transportation Agency for San Francisco is set to receive $18.2 million to rebuild and maintain light-rail vehicles   Read Full Article...