Island Transit is requesting approval from the Department of Transportation to use the $14.96 million federal grant it received last year for hydrogen fuel cell buses to purchase hybrid diesel-electric buses instead.

Eight hybrid buses — considered low-emission vehicles — are on order and 15 more are pending approval from the Federal Transit Administration, according to Island Transit Executive Director Melinda Adams.

As previously reported by the News-Times , Island Transit received the grant in July 2024 for the purpose of purchasing 12 hydrogen buses, along with the necessary fueling infrastructure, as the agency transitions toward deploying a zero-emission fleet. The lack of locally available hydrogen, however, meant transit officials’ hesitated to commit to the buses.

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