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JACKSON — City of Jackson’s JTRAN public transit system will benefit from an $8.7 million grant awarded to the city Tuesday by the Federal Transit Administration under President Joe Biden, city officials said.
“The funding will allow the City to implement findings from its comprehensive ‘Connect JXN Transit Plan’ study that has looked at ways to upgrade and modernize the JTRAN system,” city officials said in a Wednesday press release. “The study has considered ways to reduce maintenance costs, improve service reliability and enhance access and mobility for Jackson residents.”
The link to the plan study can be found here.
“I am very grateful for the FTA and President Joe Biden to allocate this much needed funding to the City of Jackson as we re-envision the role of transportation,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said in a statement. “I would also like to give a shout out to the hardworking staff in the City’s Planning & Development Department, who made this happen.”
The purpose of the “Buses and Bus Facilities Program” is to assist in the financing of buses and bus facilities capital projects, including replacing, rehabilitating, purchasing or leasing buses or related equipment, and rehabilitating, purchasing, constructing or leasing bus-related facilities, the press release states. The program’s aim is to support the transition of the nation’s transit fleet to the lowest polluting and most energy efficient transit vehicles.
Tuesday’s announcement follows a news release from Congressman Bennie Thompson’s office on Friday.
“We are appreciative and thank Congressman Bennie Thompson for his support of transit in the City of Jackson,” said City of Jackson’s Deputy Director of Transportation, Christine Welch. “This is something we’ve been looking at and working on for a long time, so the funding comes as a much needed resource for Jackson residents.”
The $8,714,400 in funding stems from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill which allocated a total $1.66 billion to the FTA, according to the press release.
The grant monies will be used by transit agencies, territories and states across the country to invest in 150 bus fleets and facilities. More than 1,100 buses and vehicles will use zero-emissions technology, which reduces air pollution and helps meet the President’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Some of the grant funding will be used to train transit workers on how to maintain and operate new clean bus technology.
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