Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) will use $1.4 million in grant money from the FAA to buy two electric bus shuttles and also build a rapid charging station for electric cars that passengers park at the airport.
The battery-electric buses will join the bus shuttle fleet that moves passengers between parking lots and one of the airport’s two passenger terminals. The rapid charging station will open with the PIT’s new 700,000-ft.2 passenger terminal slated to open in 2025. Part of that project is a $163 million parking garage that will span 1.14 million ft.2 and feature five levels with 4,200 parking spaces.
The board of directors of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which manages PIT, approved the grant at the board’s monthly meeting on April 21, according to the airport. The money is part of the FAA’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) grant program, through which airports can get funding to buy vehicles to be used “on-airport for airport purposes,” according to the agency.
“PIT is working with the FAA to finalize plans for the electric buses,” the airport says in a statement, adding the grant represents “the first non-core aviation federal funding received by PIT for sustainability efforts and represents another step toward achieving PIT’s sustainability goals.”
This article was originally published on aviationweek.com.
Image Credit: Marcin Kosciolek/Alamy Stock Photo
