Governor Phil Bredesen announced today that Upper Cumberland Human Resources Agency will receive $1.7 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for rural transportation services. UCHRA provides public transportation services for Cannon, Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Van Buren, Warren and White Counties.
“Many Tennesseans, particularly those with limited mobility, already rely on public transportation for their daily needs and many others would like to see expanded transit options,” said Bredesen. “The Recovery Act funds announced today will help rural transit providers in Tennessee improve service and replace aging fleets with safer, more reliable vehicles.”
A total of $17.9 million in Recovery Act funds will be provided to 12 rural transit agencies in Tennessee.
“Coming from the fourth most rural congressional district in the country I understand the importance of providing rural residents, particularly those with limited economic means and mobility, with accessible and reliable transportation,” said Congressman Lincoln Davis. “These Recovery Act funds will allow Upper Cumberland Human Resources Agency to improve service by upgrading and expanding an aging fleet and provide thousands of Tennesseans with the mobility to continue being or becoming active members of their community.”
“Public transportation is a key component to attracting new businesses and spurring economic development,” said Congressman Bart Gordon. “As the economy recovers from this recession, improving public transit in our state’s rural communities will help make these areas more desirable for businesses to set up shop and create new jobs.”
UCHRA plans to use the Recovery Act dollars to add approximately 18 new ADA accessible minivans, 13 ADA accessible vans, eight new demand response vehicles, communications and GPS devices for the new vehicles to assist in locating service calls and one service vehicle. UCHRA also plans to utilize approximately $177,797 for operational costs.
“Many of the vans and buses in the rural transportation fleets have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles over the years and have outlasted their useful life,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Replacing these vehicles will allow transit agencies to provide safer, more dependable service to their customers and will generate manufacturing work for the companies providing the vehicles.”
Federal Recovery Act Transit funds are administered by TDOT’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Resources. Tennessee received a total of $72 million in Recovery Act transit funds. Of those funds, $42.2 million was directed by the federal government to the state’s four large urban areas, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville.
For more information on TDOT’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Resources visit www.tn.gov/tdot. For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, visit www.recovery.gov. For TDOT specific information on the Recovery Act visit www.tn.gov/tdot/recovery.
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