On Earth Day, TARTA Celebrates Three Electric Paratransit Vehicles, More To Come
For this Earth Day and the ones to come, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) continues to make progress on its TARTA Zero initiative, an effort to add electric vehicles to both the paratransit and fixed-route fleets. The first of those hit the road late last year with the debut of a new plug-in Ford Transit to TARTA’s paratransit fleet. Two more plug-in paratransit vehicles arrived in early 2024, with the delivery of three more anticipated in the coming months.
Having access to these vehicles is a win-win for both our environment and the community...These three vehicles and the additional ones that we will add in the coming months are a significant step toward creating a more sustainable fleet, which benefits everyone. Cutting back on noise pollution and removing tailpipe emissions to improve local air quality are just the start. There are so many benefits to the greater community of a greener public transit fleet. We are committed to zero emission and are looking forward to the delivery of full-size EVs through grant funding in 2026. I believe in a zero emission future for TARTA, and when you combine the developments in our paratransit fleet with those grants, we are well on our way. We are committed to zero emission and are looking forward to the delivery of full-size EVs through grant funding in 2026. I believe in a zero emission future for TARTA, and when you combine the developments in our paratransit fleet with those grants, we are well on our way.
Late last year, TARTA received a grant for more than $9 million through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for eight electric or zero emission full-sized buses and six electric chargers. Combined with another grant from TMACOG, this award will help a total of nine full-sized zero emission vehicles hit the streets of Lucas County in mid-2026.
TARTA’s leadership plans to continue to aggressively pursue additional competitive grants, with the goal of a fully zero emission fleet by 2040.
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