Early last month, Congressman Tom Perriello announced that close to $37 million in stimulus funds would be used to repave roads, repair or build bridges, and add to transportation systems in the Fifth District. The projects to be funded are those that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) deemed “recommended” and that the Virginia Transportation Board approved for federal funds.
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Going green: With funds from the stimulus package, the Charlottesville Transit Service will replace two older Trolleys, which have a lifespan of 10 years, with diesel-electric hybrids. |
The Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS) will receive $1.3 million.
The Fifth District is the Commonwealth’s largest district and includes the counties of Greene, Albemarle, Nelson, Fluvanna, Buckingham, Appomattox and the cities of Charlottesville and Danville, among others.
Nancy Arens, program coordinator for CTS, says that the funds will cover 100 percent of the transportation requests for the next fiscal year, something, she says, that is very unusual. Generally, when a transportation project is approved, 80 percent of the funds are federal and the state pitches in between 5 to 15 percent. Localities tend to fill the remaining gap.
“This time around, the state made the determination to award all of our requests as 100 percent federal funding,” she says. “It’s very, very unusual that CTS would not have to provide at least some sort of local match.”
Of the $1.3 million, $1.18 million will be needed to replace two older Trolleys—each with a lifespan of 10 years—with new, diesel-electric hybrid ones. “It’s a great step forward,” says Arens. “We’ll get those two buses fully outfitted with all of the equipment and all the stop upgrades.” Some of the upgrades include cameras, radios, AVL units and other electronics.
According to CTS, ridership has increased and the company is close to 1.6 million boardings in the city.
About $77,000 will go toward maintenance of CTS’ fleet and to purchase any necessary spare part. CTS will purchase and install four new passenger shelters, some bus stop benches, trashcans, bike racks and bus finder units for a grand total of about $50,000. Although these new shelters won’t be installed for another six months or so, Arens says that few shelters paid with funds approved for this current fiscal year, will be installed soon.
“We haven’t determined the locations for these new ones yet, but those will be determined by specific requests from the public,” says Arens. In March, CTS conducted a public passenger survey that gave the agency information of which bus stops were the busiest and which ones needed shelters.
Of the transportation funds, Albemarle County will receive $6,787,200 to repave various roads—Route 20, 29, 33, 53, and 250—for a total of 42 miles.
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