The purpose of award is to purchase six (6) fixed route hybrid diesel/electric transit buses and provide the huntsville transit maintenance operations staff with with associated training

The Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration awarded the City of Huntsville $7.176 million on July 16, 2026, under the Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low or No Emissions Programs (CFDA 20.526) to purchase six fixed-route hybrid diesel/electric transit buses and provide associated training to Huntsville Transit maintenance and operations staff.

The City of Huntsville and Gillig LLC have an existing contract in place for the six hybrid buses. Upon delivery and acceptance, Gillig and its subcontractors will train Huntsville Transit employees on the hybrid model's operation and maintenance. The buses will operate in all of Huntsville's designated opportunity zones and can run in battery-only mode at the downtown transfer center, where multiple buses lay over simultaneously, improving air quality for employees and customers. The project is ready for immediate implementation upon fund receipt. Performance occurs in Alabama with an ultimate completion date of March 30, 2034. The award is classified as a Project Grant, and no subrecipients are identified beyond Gillig's training role.

Activities

The city of huntsville and gillig LLC. Already have a contract in place for the six (6) hybrid diesel electric buses proposed. This project is ready for immediate implementation upon award of funds from usdot FTA. Upon delivery and acceptance of the vehicles gillig/gillig subcontractors will train huntsville transit employees on the specifics of how the gillig hybrid model buses are powered.

Expected outcomes

Thousands of individuals in huntsville rely on utilize public transit to access jobs shopping medical school recreation and many opportunities that make up a high quality of life community participation. Operating new well maintained low mileage buses produce less downtime for maintenance while maximizing service reliability by having fewer breakdowns and improved OTP.

Intended beneficiaries

Both transit employees and customers will benefit from the replacement of six (6) diesel buses with the new hybrid diesel/electric buses. The proposed hybrid electric buses will be utilized in all of huntsvilles designated opportunity zones. . These buses can operate for a limited time in battery mode. This is valuable for our downtown transfer center where large number of buses lay over simultaneously; significantly improving the air quality for our employees customers.