Preston — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday a $20.4 million grant to fund upgrades to Southeast Area Transit District’s bus facility, the purchase of two electric buses, and the development of a plan for employee training and additional jobs, as SEAT commits to transition to zero-emission buses by 2035.

The grant, which the state Department of Transportation is slated to receive on behalf of SEAT, is part of $1.6 billion in grants to benefit 150 bus facilities and fleets across the country, the Federal Transit Administration announced in a news release Tuesday.

SEAT is the only agency in Connecticut to receive a grant.

“We are thankful for the Federal Transit Administration’s award of the $20 million Bus and Bus Facilities Grant award and the support of Governor (Ned) Lamont and our Congressional delegation,” Kafi Rouse, spokeswoman for the state DOT, said in a statement. “This grant award will allow us to make desperately needed capital improvements to Southeast Area Transit District’s (SEAT) transit facility in Preston. The modernization of the transit facility will include construction to make the necessary technological changes so it may serve battery electric buses in the future.”

SEAT and the state Department of Transportation plan to create a workforce development plan to get SEAT staff ready for the transition to electric buses and to create new jobs in partnership with local colleges and universities, SEAT General Manager Michael Carroll wrote in a grant support letter in May to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

“We are really excited about the future of SEAT and this grant will allow us to modernize our aging facility, build out an electric charging infrastructure and begin converting the fleet to clean EV public transportation,” said SEAT Board of Directors Chairman Ronald McDaniel, who is the mayor of Montville. “We look forward to working with the CT DOT to provide southeastern Connecticut with accessible, reliable and affordable low emission public transit.”

A bus fire on a CTtransit electric bus in Hamden in late July prompted the state DOT to take its electric bus fleet out of service, the Hartford Courant reported, but Rouse said Tuesday that the ongoing investigations of the isolated incident will not impact the grant.

“The international transit industry, and the federal government, are shifting to battery electric buses, and CTDOT is working to ensure we are doing everything we can to prepare our state’s transit facilities for the eventual arrival of these new buses and ensure the workforce has the training needed to prepare them for the next generation of equipment,” Rouse said.

Carroll noted in the May letter that the goal of implementing electric buses will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants in overburdened communities.

“This is an important part of creating environmental equity for the community by improving public health and mitigating environmental degradation,” he added.

Grants announced Tuesday include larger projects, such as $116 million for 230 battery-electric buses for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and $116 million for battery-electric buses for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, as well as funding for smaller transit systems.

“With today's awards, we’re helping communities across America – in cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike – purchase more than 1,800 new buses, and most of them are zero-emission,” Buttigieg said in the release. “Funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this announcement means more good jobs for people across the country, cleaner air in our communities, and more affordable and reliable options to help people get to where they need to go.”

k.drelich@theday.com