DOT Builds Wind Towers in Stimulus Project

The Department of Transportation is using the last of its transit grants under the economic stimulus law to build wind turbines to power three bus buildings in Lafayette, Ind., and linking several administration goals at once.

The $2.2 million project for the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corp. caps $8.78 billion awarded for 1,072 transit improvement grants under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The DOT says the grants have created about 10,000 transit-related jobs.

The Lafayette agency, known as CityBus, will use its grant to install three wind turbine units for the transit buildings. They are projected to generate 72,000 kilowatt hours per year, the DOT says, or enough to power the entire facility.

Wind Tower news from JOC:
Moving Air.

The Obama administration has used the stimulus infrastructure projects to bolster the nation’s transportation systems, create jobs in construction and manufacturing as well as the transit systems, and curb the use of power sources that create greenhouse gases.

Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said the ARRA grants have gone into various transit system upgrades and to buy new equipment “that will improve our quality of life, lower our dependence on oil, and save taxpayers money in the long run.”

The final grant to CityBus was awarded under the Transit Investment in Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction program. The program made $100 million in ARRA funds available for capital projects that cut energy use or greenhouse gas emissions.

-- Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.