Across the country, fleets of aging, groaning, gas-guzzling buses are being replaced with new electric models.

On Monday, the Biden administration announced nearly $1.7 billion in grants for municipal transportation departments serving cities, rural areas, and Native American reservations. The awards support multiple levels of the bus-electrification process, helping to fund everything from charging stations and garages to the buses themselves. The geographical reach of these awards is broad and includes the Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and municipal transit authorities in cities like Tucson, Arizona; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle.

The funding comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, through a combination of two Federal Transit Administration initiatives: the Low- and No-Emission Vehicle program and the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities program. According to the release, awards related to the infrastructure law have already added 1,800 no-emission buses to the nation’s roadways, more than doubling the number of such vehicles in use.

“Today’s announcement means more clean buses, less pollution, more jobs in manufacturing and maintenance, and better commutes for families across the country,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters.

The funding, like much of the infrastructure law, is also aimed at reducing long-term inequities, both through expanding transit to underserved communities and providing living-wage employment.

For instance, in King County, Washington — the greater Seattle metro area — the transit authority plans to convert 27 bus lines that serve low-income areas. But it’s also using the project as a means to create an easier pathway to jobs in transit by expanding the county’s apprenticeship programs.

“This funding supports our work to advance equity and social justice by prioritizing service areas for these new electric buses in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by pollution generated by fossil fuels,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine in a press release.

Read the full article about infrastructure funding by Katie Myers at Grist.