The Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- With gas prices at record levels, U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas said the timing couldn't be better for a $1.1 million federal grant for the Lowell Regional Transit Authority to purchase new buses, as announced on Wednesday by Tsongas, and Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy.
Under terms of the Department of Transportation's "Wendell Ford Aviation Investment & Reform Act for the 21st Century," the LRTA will receive $1,117,360 to purchase new buses to be used in Lowell, Billerica, Chelmsford, Tewksbury and Tyngsboro.
"Thousands of Greater Lowell residents rely on public transportation," said Tsongas. "It is particularly important to the elderly and disabled in our region."
Kerry was enthusiastic about the positive environmental impact of newer buses. "New buses in the Merrimack Valley will provide easier, cleaner and more cost-effective travel," he stated.
In June, the LRTA fleet numbered 47 large buses which run on diesel fuel, five small buses that run on regular gas, and nine trolley buses that use clean natural gas.
In his four years on the job, LRTA Administrator James Scanlan told The Sun last month, he was able to replace 37 of 47 older buses that were more than 10 years old.
He was expecting to replace eight more with newer models in the coming year, "with two of those being hybrid vehicles to be paid for by federal money," Scanlan said.
-- JOHN COLLINS
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Friday, July 18, 2008