Garamendi helps secure grant for new buses in Fairfield

Congressman John Garamendi on Thursday said the federal Department of Transportation will give the City of Fairfield a $12 million grant that will go toward various mass transit initiatives there.

The funds were part of a broader $27 million grant that will also help the Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority build a new mass transportation center.

Locally, Garamendi says the $12 million given to Fairfield will help the city upgrade its fleet of buses to modern, zero-emission vehicles, charging facilities for the buses and an expansion of routes in town.

"Fairfield is a crucial transportation hub for Solano County," Garamendi said in a prepared statement. "With its growing population, the city must increase the size and reliability of its bus fleet."

Garamendi is part of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a group of federal lawmakers that met with President Joe Biden last year to discuss the country's varying transportation and infrastructure needs.

Last November, Biden signed a blockbuster $1 trillion transportation and infrastructure revitalization measure that injects $550 billion into transit, broadband and utility-related projects. Of that money, $39 billion was earmarked for new and upgraded public transit systems.

"As we look towards a cleaner and more sustainable future, it’s zero-emission transportation projects like these that will help us get there," Garamendi said on Thursday. "I look forward to seeing the many ways in which these new and improved transit systems will benefit the residents of California’s 3rd Congressional District."

Garamendi currently represents much of Solano County, except for Vallejo and Benicia. He is running for re-election in California's newly-formed 8th Congressional District; if he wins, he will represent Vallejo and Benicia starting next January, while Vacaville and Dixon move to the 4th Congressional District.