APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – A long overdue upgrade is being made possible thanks to some federal grant money.
If you think your ride is old, just take a trip to Appleton where they’ve been using the same buses since 1994.
“Buses are designed to run for 12 years or 500,000 miles, so typically you try to get 15 years out of them,” says Valley Transit GM Ron McDonald.
Do the math and the Fox Cities public transportation system has been due for an upgrade for at least the past 9 or so years.
Fortunately Valley Transit, the public transportation service in the Fox Cities, recently received $4 million in federal grant money.
“We’ve replaced 4 or 5 busses so far and this will help us with about 10 more,” explains Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna.
This grant is part of a larger $11.3 million state-wide grant to modernize Wisconsin’s bus system.
“We got about thirty-five percent of the money that came to the state is coming here to Valley Transit, which is awesome,” says Mayor Hanna.
Officials are saying that Wisconsin is generally lacking in their modernization of public transportation and this federal grant will hopefully work towards reversing that problem.
“Last I heard, there were approximately 260 buses across the state of Wisconsin that were beyond their useful life,” says McDonald.
The upgraded Valley Transit buses will work to service various communities, including Appleton, Buchanan, Grand Chute, Kaukauna, Kimberly, Little Chute, City of Menasha, Neenah, and Fox Crossing.
