Good news for the LRTA.
Administrator James Scanlan announced Wednesday that the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) has awarded the LRTA $4.6 million in competitive grant funding. Combined with $1.1 million received from MassDOT, the LRTA will use the $5.6 million total to boost its capital spending over the next several years.
According to Scanlan, the FTA funding will purchase eight new 30-foot buses, six new low floor cutaway buses for paratransit, and five new bus lifts at the Hale Street maintenance facility.
Of the 15 regional transit authorities in Massachusetts, only five received FTA funding – with the LRTA obtaining the largest share by far.

Scanlan praised LRTA managers David Bradley and Ali Bent for putting together the winning bid. The LRTA was competing against RTAs from across the nation to secure a share of the FTA’s $464 million made available. (A year ago, the LRTA’s bid came up short in the competitive funding process.)

Click Here for Jim Scanlan’s letter to the Board of Commissioners on the fantastic news that will make the agency’s bus fleet the most modern in Massachusetts.