NYSERDA Announces $5 Million Available for Clean Technologies for Public Transit Systems

Paul Speraw• July 6, 2018

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced that up to $5 million is available for proposals that include innovative clean transportation technologies and strategies to improve operations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for public transit systems throughout the state. The proposals support Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s clean energy goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030.

NYSERDA will award the funding as part of a two-step competitive process. Applicants must first submit concept papers focusing on new or underutilized solutions that can help transit agencies make tangible improvements to bus and rail operations while achieving energy savings using one of three strategies:

reducing traction power energy use;
increasing the efficiency of transit buses; or
developing new hardware and software technologies that improve transit agency operations and ridership statewide.

Concept papers must be for technical feasibility studies, new product development, or demonstration of technologies and business models, and will be accepted through August 7, 2018. All proposed projects should be economically viable, replicable, and relevant to transit agencies in New York State. NYSERDA will use a competitive process to identify the best concept papers and invite those applicants to submit follow-up proposals.

The proposals selected will receive funding to move forward with their projects in an effort to make transit systems more efficient, reduce transit agency expenses, and lower greenhouse gas emissions by increasing transit ridership, reducing fuel consumption among buses, and decreasing the amount of electricity required to power trains.

Funding is available through the state’s 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund. In total, $18.5 million will be made available in multiple rounds of funding for projects to increase efficiency in public transit systems through 2022. More information about this funding is available on NYSERDA’s website.