Leslie Golden | lgolden@alextimes.com

The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Transit Company were awarded a $38 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The city received $24 million from the FTA through a Low/No Emission Buses and Bus & Bus Facilities Program. According to a release, “The grant will be used to purchase 13 battery-electric buses and to install charging infrastructure at the City’s bus maintenance and storage facility. The grant will also provide funding to upgrade the DASH facility with additional electrical capacity and to cover the cost of additional train- ing and workforce development programs related to fleet electrification.”

The remaining $14 million grant funds will be used to “ maintain high frequency service levels on DASH Lines 35 and 36A/B through Fiscal Year 2025. DASH was also awarded funding to purchase two 60-foot articulated electric buses to increase capacity on Line 35, the busiest route in the entire DASH system” according to the release.