Centro to use $28M federal grant for operating expenses

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Centro will use a $28 million federal grant award for operating, preventive maintenance, and administrative expenses.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on Monday announced the $28 million award for the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (Centro)

The funding is part of the federal stimulus law, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The money is “necessary to maintain service during the COVID-19 public-health emergency,” the FTA said in a Monday news release.

The grant is all federal funding and “no local match is required,” the office of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) said in a separate release.

“We know many of our nation’s public transportation systems are facing extraordinary challenges and these funds will go a long way to assisting our transit industry partners in battling COVID-19,” FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams said. “These federal funds will support operating assistance to transit agencies of all sizes providing essential travel and supporting transit workers across the country who are unable to work because of the public health emergency.”