By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph will receive a $4.4 million federal grant to cover transit service operating costs during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, announced the Federal Transit Administration grant had been awarded the city.
“The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted local transit services, leaving them with huge operating losses at a time when local budgets are already stretched thin,” Blunt said in a written statement released by his office. “This funding will help provide some emergency support to keep drivers and transit employees safe, which is vital to making sure that other essential workers - like those in the health care or food service industry - can rely on public transit to get to work. I’ll continue working with the administration to help cities get the resources they need to respond to the coronavirus.”
The grant will help the city purchase personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to help protect transit system employees from the coronavirus. The money can also be used to offset transit expenses, such as payroll, fuel, and administrative leave costs.
The money comes from the $25 billion in Transit Infrastructure Grants including in the $2.2 trillion emergency economic stimulus package approved by Congress to aid the economy staggering under COVID-19 restrictions.