By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — Rural transit agencies across Michigan are on track to receive a second injection of federal stimulus money.

The Michigan Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) issued the results of its Michigan Vendor Showcase and Transit Summit early this month. The meeting was on July 14 between MDOT and rural transit agency officials, to get a sense of their priorities and needs, according to Dan Wedge, manager of the Allegan County Transportation Authority.

Wedge explained that state officials devised a two phase system for distributing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money to rural transit agencies, usually referred to as federal stimulus money. City transit authorities received their share of stimulus money directly from the state, with all the decision-making about what to do with the funds left up to local officials. In the case of rural transit agencies, however, funds have been distributed through MDOT and MDOT has a say in how the money will be spent.
Phase one and phase two funds amount to approximately $25 million, as shown in the chart. A portion of the $25 million will go for intercity bus service, such as Indian Trails bus service. Phase two money, amounting to about $10 million, has yet to be distributed. MDOT wants rural transit authorities to submit their applications to MDOT by September. MDOT, in turn, must submit its own application to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) by Dec. 31.

State officials are hoping that they will have their application to the FTA completed as early as November.

“It’s helping a lot,” said Susan Miller of the Benzie County Transportation Authority. “We received funds (from phase one) to purchase six new buses and to purchase and renovate a new facility.”

Miller said she is definitely going to apply for phase two funds as well.

MDOT states that about $2 million of phase two money will go for operating expenses at local transit agencies for 2010. This will increase the federal government’s share of these operating expenses from 16 percent to 18 percent. Of the remaining $8 million, five percent will go for new facilities, 60 percent will go for new vehicles, including hybrid buses; 10 percent for communications equipment as well as safety and security equipment, and about 25 percent will go for facility upgrades, including “greening.”

With regard to greening, Wedge said that state officials are offering energy audits to local transit authorities, but they aren’t mandatory. A facility would be deemed more green if a state official performed an energy audit of an agency. Such an audit would simply be an evaluation of a facility to see how energy efficient it is along with recommendations to increase its energy efficiency.

Another trend towards greening is hybrid buses. Transit officials who are set to receive new buses under phase one funding can now opt to receive a hybrid bus instead, and some additional money is available to pay for the extra expense. Wedge said that hybrid buses aren’t a good option for rural transit authorities, however.

“For rural agencies that have a lot of rural driving, there’s not a lot of benefit to hybrid buses,” he said. “We’re not going to take a look at them. There would be no significant advantage for us.”
Phase two money will be distributed to local transit authorities early next year.

Published on Sept. 30, 2009