The Fairfax County Department of Transportation will apply for $128.1 million in grant funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to purchase 72 low-emission buses for the Fairfax Connector service, following expected approval May 7 from the Board of Supervisors.
Fairfax County officials will seek up to $71.1 million in grant funds from USDOT’s Buses and Bus Facilities Program and up to $57 million through the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Grant Program.
The Buses and Bus Facilities Program requires a 20-percent local match and the county government’s fiscal 2025 budget, also set to be adopted May 7, includes local funding and state aid to cover that $14.2 million expense. No additional general-fund dollars would be needed, county officials said.
The new buses – all of which will be outfitted with NextGen fareboxes, to be purchased in fiscal 2025 will include 24 ultra-low-emission, next-generation hybrids capable of operating in battery-only mode for set distances, and a dozen 30-foot-long diesel buses, which are intended to replace vehicles of similar size that are not available in hybrid versions.
In fiscal 2026, provided the grant funds have been received, the county will purchase 36 more next-generation hybrid buses.
The 60 hybrid buses are intended to provide low-emission service as the county gradually makes the transition to zero-emission buses.
The 72 buses will replace vehicles that have reached the end of their service lives. The county will maintain existing bus-service levels.
County officials are finishing up a Zero Emission Bus Study and conducting a battery-electric-bus pilot program, which will provide data to help the county eventually switch to the zero-emission fleet.
The county does not now have any bus facilities with sufficient infrastructure to maintain battery-electric buses, but staff plan to ask for funding in a future budget cycle to retrofit facilities for that purpose.
