This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it was sending almost $12.8 million to the Sunshine State to “support facility repairs and operating emergency services following Hurricane Ian.”
The funds are part of $102.3 million the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is sending to 17 agencies in eight states and territories recovering from natural disasters.
“The funding, provided through FTA’s Public Transportation Emergency Relief (ER) Program, will help them repair damaged equipment and facilities and recoup costs for evacuation and rescue operations following floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes that occurred in 2017 and 2020-22,” DOT announced.
“As climate change accelerates, we are seeing floods, hurricanes, and wildfires that used to be once-in-a-century events coming every few months and causing greater damage to our lives, communities, and infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg.
Lee County Transit is getting the bulk of the funds with $8,464,227 headed to that agency. The Florida Department of Transportation will get $3,983,518. Sarasota County is penciled in for $217,909 while the Collier County Board of County Commissioners will get $125,690.
“Americans cannot stop their lives because a disaster damages their transit systems,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “We know it is critical to fund recovery efforts for these systems, so they can keep taking Americans to work, to school, to doctors’ appointments, and for all the other important journeys that transit provides.”
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