SCRTD asks MPO to amend bus grant, discusses hybrid option, new facility and fleet growth

The South Central Regional Transit District asked the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization on April 9, 2025, to amend a multi‑phase grant so the district can substitute hybrid buses for planned battery electric buses if federal requirements or pricing make full electric vehicles infeasible, SCRTD Executive Director David Armijo told board members.

The request follows federal and state shifts affecting grant requirements and bus pricing. Tim (last name not specified), who presented the MPO item remotely, said the El Paso MPO had originally awarded CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) funds for five buses in three phases but that the funding for phase 3 is being changed to a Surface Transportation Large Urban program, “which comes with fewer requirements for air quality and will potentially allow for a change from electric buses to hybrid buses,” he said.

Armijo said the district has seen electric‑bus prices rise while hybrid prices have remained steady, creating a roughly $300,000 per‑bus cost difference. He told the board that converting the phase 3 award to allow hybrids could expand pricing flexibility and improve the district’s chances of keeping the MPO funds. He added that the change could also unlock a new application to the New Mexico matching fund that might cover the local match for some buses.

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