U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. announced today that St. Louis has been awarded a $4 million federal grant for public transportation upgrades.
The money will be provided jointly by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration, according to a press release from McCaskill's office.
So, how will St. Louis use the money?
The release states that the grants will be used to aid in the replacement of up to 12 buses in the Metro's current bus fleet.
The competitive grant is part of the Federal Transit Administration’s clean fuels program, which helps cities improve their air quality by removing older buses from their fleets. Metro spokeswoman Diane Williams said St. Louis has some of the oldest buses in the nation, regularly lasting 15 years and 750,000 miles.
“This grant will help us to maintain a regular schedule of replacing buses," Williams said. "We do about one-fifteenth of the fleet every 15 years. So we can keep newer buses on the street and not extend beyond their useful life.”
Williams said a new bus will typically cost between $350,000 and $400,000.