$100 million for 
43 transit projects

The Obama Administration said $100 million in Economic Recovery Act funding will go to 43 transit agencies that are pursuing cutting-edge environmental technologies to help reduce global warming, lessen America's dependence on oil and create green jobs.

"This is a sign of
things to come," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who made
the announcement in Atlanta, the site of the largest award. "This shows
how investing in green transportation not only helps the planet, but creates
jobs and strengthens our economy. It also shows how much more we can do."

The 43 winning proposals
were submitted by transit agencies from across the country as part of a
nationwide competition for $100 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds. Selection criteria included a project’s ability
to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and also to provide a
return on the investment. Other criteria included readiness to implement,
applicant capacity, degree of innovation and national applicability. The
Federal Transit Administration reviewed more than $2 billion in applications
for these funds.

The winning project
proposals include:

California:  Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Los Angeles), $4,466,000.
Red Line Westlake Rail Wayside Energy Storage System: Install wayside energy
storage substation at Westlake passenger station, which is at-grade level on
the high-speed heavy rail subway Red Line. The nearby traction power substation
will be switched off when the WESS is operating. The WESS flywheel technology
captures regenerative braking energy when trains slow or stop and transfer back
to same train or another train when it starts or accelerates, reducing energy
demand and peak power requirements.

California:  North
County Transit District (North San Diego, headquarters in Oceanside), $2,000,000.
PV Solar Implementation at facilities: Install PV solar in a variety of
facilities. 

Maryland:  Maryland
Transit Administration (statewide), $522,000. Halon 1301 Replacement:  The
MTA currently has approximately 5 metric tons of Halon 1301 (CBrF3) deployed at
24 MTA facilities in and surrounding Baltimore City. Each metric ton of Halon
1301 released to the atmosphere – intentionally or inadvertently – is
equivalent to releasing 6,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The scope of this
project includes destruction of MTA’s inventory of Halon 1301 and replacement
with another clean agent.

New York: New York City
Transit Department of Subways (New York City), $2,000,000. Remote 3rd Rail Heaters
Monitoring and Control System: Install wireless control points linked to 3rd
rail heaters in two phases. The project will allow these 3rd rail heaters to be
remotely monitored and turned on and off from a central control location
depending on weather conditions, thus minimizing electricity use and
eliminating wasted energy. TIGGER will fund the labor portion of the project
only. Material is being financed and procured through the New York Power
Authority.