Washington State is receiving more than $47 million in American Rescue Plan funding for public transit infrastructure projects, which includes one project in Eastern Washington and five in Western Washington.
According to a news release Friday from the Department of Transportation, the projects include $5.8 million for the Central City Line Bus Rapid Transit project in Spokane.
Brandon Rapez-Betty said City Line is already funded, with a mix of local and Federal money. He said the award could free up some local tax dollars for other improvements in Spokane County.
“What this dollar does is it reduces our federal requirement, which is basically giving money back to us that can be spent toward local funding issues, such as service, or other projects.”
The City Line is a 6-mile bus line that will connect Browne’s Addition to the University District. It’s designed to function similarly to a street car and will only utilize electric buses.
The second project that will receive Federal funding is Sound Transit Tacoma Link Extension. The project is a 2.4-mile light rail line and will receive $20.7 million.
Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Vancouver are also all receiving federal funds for bus projects.
This story has been updated from its original version to include comments from Brandon Rapez-Betty and infrastructure projects outside Spokane.
