NC-2025-007

Application purpose: The City of Charlotte, North Carolina, through the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), a department of the city, is requesting $30,823,447 with a local match of $26,459,279 from the FY2023 Bus and Bus Facilities Grant to continue fulfilling the City of Charlotte's plans for lower emissions vehicles, associated infrastructure, and workforce development.

Activities performed: CATS proposes a replacement of old diesel buses with 15 battery electric buses (BEBs) and 16 hybrid electric diesel buses (total of 31 buses), the addition of 15 electric vehicle charging stations, one natural gas generator to lower emissions by replacing an existing diesel generator, implementation of an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software system, and workforce development to train additional technicians and operators on BEBs and tooling for electric vehicle repair and maintenance.

Expected outcomes: Replacing MY2003 buses with new buses will increase service reliability and greatly reduce instances of breakdown.

This will help prevent service interruptions and minimize time in an unsafe environment for employees, riders, and other road users.

BEBs and hybrids also expose the public to no or reduced air pollution, respectively, which may decrease instances of acute respiratory effects due to exposure.

Additionally, BEBs' decreased noise footprint inside and outside the bus decreases noise pollution and may make important or emergency noises more identifiable.

Further, electric vehicles have a lower chance of fire than internal combustion vehicles, have lower or no chance of accidental burn during maintenance due to low operating temperatures, and have decreased chance of hazardous events during fueling or repair.

Over 50% of the CATS fleet has met or exceeded its useful life.

Replacing older buses will greatly reduce road calls and breakdowns, in turn reducing customer service interruptions.

Further, replacing these older buses will reduce technician hours dedicated to unscheduled work, reduce downtime for better service, minimize time in an unsafe environment for employees and the public during a breakdown, and improve rider experience.

These outdated vehicles also have parts supply chain issues due to lack of OEM parts, leading to additional downtime and increased costs while seeking secondary vendors.

This also creates inventory challenges with either inability to procure parts or a need to overstock parts because of unpredictable availability.

These issues also affect the diesel generator we are requesting to replace.

Intended beneficiaries: Intended beneficiaries include CATS employees, local ridership, local community workforce, and the general public in the Charlotte metro area.

Subrecipient activities: None.

City Of Charlotte

THE GRANTS FOR BUSES AND BUS FACILITIES COMPETITIVE PROGRAM PROVIDES FUNDING TO REPLACE REHABILITATE AND PURCHASE BUSES AND RELATED EQUIPMENT AND TO CONSTRUCT BUS-RELATED FACILITIES INCLUDING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES OR INNOVATIONS TO MODIFY LOW OR NO EMISSION VEHICLES OR FACILITIES.

20.526 - Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low or No Emissions Programs

FTA Region 4 [DOT - FTA]

FTA Office of Budget and Policy [DOT - FTA]

North Carolina United States

State-Wide

FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity; Buses and Bus Facilities Program (FTA-2023-003-TPM-BUS)