Congressman Jack Kingston announced that the Chatham Area Transit Authority (CATA) has been named as the recipient of a grant from the US Department of Transportation. The funds will be used to purchase seven additional hybrid buses to add to its fleet.

“I congratulate Chairman Pete Liakakis, present CAT director Charles Odimgbe, former director Joe Murray Rivers and board members Dr. Priscilla Thomas and Helen Stone for all of their hard work in acquiring seven more buses for their fleet,” Congressman Kingston said. “I am glad to see environmentally friendly vehicles used in our community. Aside from having lower emissions, these buses will also cost substantially less to maintain, which will help provide a better public transportation system for the residents of Chatham County.”

The amount of the grant is over $4 million and the funds will be used to purchase seven hybrid buses along with bus shelters. Because hybrid vehicles use electricity at lower speeds before burning diesel at higher speeds, fuel costs for the new buses should be substantially lower than the buses used in the past.

Hybrid vehicles have much lower fuel emissions making them more environmentally friendly and also require much less maintenance than their diesel counterparts.

The buses are expected to have a life of approximately seven years or up to 350,000 miles.

“The Chatham County Commissioners appreciate this funding for the transit authority,” said Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis.

“This funding will help us seven more hybrid buses and additional shelter space. We have worked very hard to replace some of the buses in our fleet with high mileage and just want to be able to continue reliable transportation to our citizens who need it the most.”