20
January
2017
|
11:33 AM
America/New_York

Federal grant supports low and no emission bus research at Ohio State

The Ohio State University will be leading the way in an effort to build cleaner and greener buses.

The university will serve as a test site for low or no emission buses for public transportation after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Transit Authority.

Ohio State will serve as a test site for cleaner buses

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown announced the award Wednesday. The grant is through the Low or No (LoNo) Emission Bus Component Testing program and Ohio State is one of just two universities nationwide to be selected for the project.

"This is yet another example of how innovative partnerships have the potential to uplift our communities, the state and beyond,” said Ohio State University President Michael V. Drake. “Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research remains at the forefront of the latest breakthroughs in fuel efficiency practices, while further transforming Central Ohio into the nation’s premier transportation innovation region.”

Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research will partner with the Ohio-based Transportation Research Center to help FTA develop the most energy-efficient buses possible.Ohio State will be eligible to compete for an additional $12 million of federal funding that will be made available over the next four years.

“The Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research and the Transportation Research Center have provided world-class research and testing for dozens of years, and this award will put them at the center of nationwide efforts to increase energy efficiency in our public transit system,” said Brown. “With this funding, Ohio continue its leadership role in developing our next generation of low and no emission buses.”

Brown serves as the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees FTA. Brown created the testing program during Senate consideration of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act in 2015, and he doubled federal investment in zero-emission public transit projects.

The Center for Automotive Research is research center in The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering. The research center works on improving sustainable transportation.

The FTA grant continues the university’s effort to play a lead role in developing the transportation of the future. This summer, Ohio State was named the lead research partner in the $140 million Smart City program.

University researchers are working with the City of Columbus and local partners to transform Central Ohio into the nation’s premier transportation innovation region. The Smart City project uses federal grants, local donations and awards to develop new ideas and to make transportation safer, easier, more reliable and more sustainable.