Kalamazoo Metro Receives $10M To Modernize Bus Fleet

As someone who grew up in Kalamazoo my entire life, I was lucky enough to spend some time using public transportation. For years, my godmother would use the Kalamazoo Metro bus system to get around town, and she would take me with her. I would casually pay attention to what buses we were getting on and where we were going. This was one of the easiest ways to learn the city and the bus routes.

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This knowledge would turn out to be beneficial later on in life as I would be able to use the bus system anytime, I needed and once I started driving, I knew my way around town without a GPS. The Kalamazoo Metro bus system helps thousands of people in the Kalamazoo area reach the places they need to go to handle their business on a daily basis.

For years, there has been a push for our world to become Green and save our atmosphere from the years of destruction. One of those changes has been trying to reduce our carbon emissions by driving less or driving electric/hybrid vehicles. As you can imagine, electric and hybrid bus production has come after cars were perfected but now, they are rolling out.

Have You Ever Used The Kalamazoo Metro Bus System?

The Kalamazoo Metro system will be receiving an upgrade to their bus fleet after they were given grant funding toward the cause.

MLive via MSN reports:

Over $10 million will support changes to modernize the public bus system in Kalamazoo County. The Central County Transportation Authority of Kalamazoo County received a $972,000 federal grant, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, announced on Friday, Nov. 21. Hours later, Huizenga’s office reported another grant had come through, bringing the total amount to $10,490,424 for the Kalamazoo area bus service.

The funding will support eight 40-foot hybrid replacement buses, Huizenga said. The initial grant is through the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program, which provides money to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities. The $8,090,664 in federal grants for Kalamazoo come from the Low- or No Emission Program which makes federal resources available for the purchase of buses that use low- or no-emission propulsion technologies.

The Kalamazoo Metro Bus system will continue to modernize over the coming years as the hybrid buses are just the beginning. This is a huge step toward Kalamazoo County continuing to provide essential services to residents at an affordable price.