California gets $34M stimulus for rural transit

California gets $34M stimulus for rural transit
Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner Staff writer
Monday, September 28, 2009, 2:56pm PDT

California has been awarded $34 million in federal economic stimulus funding for transit projects in rural communities.

The grants, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will be distributed by the California Department of Transportation to 77 transit agencies for 141 projects across the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday.

Money will be used to rehabilitate and renovate buses, shelters and transit maintenance facilities across the state. The four county Sacramento region captured about $1.5 million of the $34 million in funding.

Locally, grants include $251,000 for preventative maintenance to Placer County Public Works, $502,509 for hardware and software for 35 electronic fare boxes for the Yolo County Transportation District, and $152,000 for a 22-passenger replacement commuter bus for Sacramento County. Other local recipients of the transit grants include the city of Lincoln ($251,098), the city of Rio Vista ($75,000), and the El Dorado County Transit Authority ($769,133).

“My administration is working around the clock to pump President Obama’s federal stimulus funding into California quickly and responsibly to help drive our economy down the road to recovery,” Schwarzenegger said, in a news release.