ODOT, Ohio EPA Award Metro $1.9 Million Grant For New, Clean-Diesel Buses

Metro (Cincinnati, OH) has announced Ohio’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) have awarded the agency $1.9 million in grant funds toward its ongoing efforts to modernize and green its fleet. The funds will go toward the purchase of four new, clean-diesel buses for Metro’s fixed-route transit service.

“Modernizing our fleet is one of the key pieces of ensuring the Reinventing Metro plan makes a lasting impact on our region and our environment,” CEO & General Manager Darryl Haley said. “Funding opportunities from partners like ODOT and the EPA are critical in driving that mission forward, and expanding the footprint of our service to the community in a reliable and sustainable way.”

The grant, distributed jointly by ODOT and OEPA, comes from the federal Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant (DERG) program, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The four new, clean-diesel vehicles will assist Metro’s ongoing plan to revitalize its fleet with newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles. These clean-diesel buses will be equipped with a new cooling system, along with other technologies that work to lower their engines’ overall carbon footprint.

Over the last three years, Metro has worked aggressively to modernize its fleet by replacing aging buses. Since 2019, it has added roughly 100 new buses with new amenities like charging ports, free Wi-Fi and video safety monitors. This grant will help extend those modernization efforts by allowing Metro to introduce more fuel-efficiency into the fleet while, at the same time, reducing the number of buses in circulation past their useful life.

Established in 1973 as a tax-funded, not-for-profit transportation provider by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Metro is celebrating 50 years of fixed-route and paratransit service to Hamilton County and the surrounding southwestern Ohio region. Learn more at www.go-metro.com.