SPRINGFIELD - The Ohio Department of Transportation has awarded the city of Springfield $300,000 in grant money to be used for the upkeep of the city's buses and bus shelters. The funds are part of a $14 million investment the state is making to 19 different city transit systems across Ohio.
Springfield's City Area Transit System will use its $300,000 for preventative maintenance on buses and upgrades to bus shelters. City Finance Director Mark Beckdahl says at least $220,000 of the grant money will be geared towards vehicle maintenance, while the rest will go towards repairing and the upkeep of bus shelters.
Beckdahl says the state funding was made possible by the Ohio Transit Preservation Partnership Program, which was designed to give local transit systems the opportunity to apply for federal money to keep their bus routes and shelters operating.
The City of Springfield announced it will match the grant with $75,000 in funding.
The extra money will allow Springfield Transit to purchase a fuel monitoring device for its buses that can track gasoline usage levels and alert officials when there are problems with the fuel system.