PORT ANGELES — Clallam Transit has received $3.6 million from the state Department of Transportation that it will use to purchase new fixed-route and paratransit buses to replace vehicles in its aging fleet.
Clallam Transit was included as one of three transit systems in the state to receive a combined $20 million in funding through the Federal Transit Administration’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. WSDOT was awarded $6.2 million for distribution to Clallam Transit and Grays Harbor Transit Authority ($2.6 million). Pierce Transit received $14.7 million.
Clallam Transit General Manager Jim Fetzer said the FTA grant was extremely competitive.
“There was $1.5 billion in funding and $9 billion in requests, and 477 applications and 177 projects that were funded,” he said.
Clallam Transit will use the funds to purchase three 35-foot-long buses at $620,000 each and two 40-foot-long buses at $650,000 each for its fixed routes.
It also will purchase five small buses at $228,000 each for its Clallam Connect service.
The new buses will look slightly different from the ones in Clallam Transit currently has with a slightly rounded front and back.
The clean diesel vehicles meet stringent EPA standards, Fetzer said, and the buses will be built by Gillig, which is located in California. The FTA grant specifically prioritized applications that sought funding for American-built and zero- and low-emission buses.
Many of the buses in the transit system’s current 41-bus fleet are at least 13 years old and have recorded more than 500,000 miles — edging them past their useful life.
The new buses will supplant the old ones; they are not intended to grow the agency’s current inventory.
“We are not looking to expand the fleet,” Fetzer said.
Clallam Transit’s zero fare pilot program established in January has significantly boosted the number of people who use the system. Total fixed-route ridership was up 38 percent through May compared with the same period last year. Ridership on Clallam Connect and the Interlink Service in Forks and Sequim have grown as well.
Numbers for the Hurricane Ridge Shuttle are down from last year, which Fetzer said is somewhat of a relief.
“People were just jammed inside the buses,” Fetzer said. “Now it’s not so crowded.”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
