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South Central Regional Transit seeks $5 million for buses, facility upgrades and workforce training
Summary
At a July board meeting, SCRTD Executive Director David Armijo described two federal grant applications that would fund vehicle purchases, facility upgrades, a planned solar microgrid and workforce development; no formal board vote was required on the grant strategy.
South Central Regional Transit District (SCRTD) Executive Director David Armijo told the board on July 23 that staff submitted two federal grant applications that together seek roughly $5 million to $5.0 million to buy buses, prepare facilities for electric vehicles and fund workforce training. The board received the update but took no formal vote on the grant submissions.
The grants matter because they would fund vehicle acquisitions, charging and facility improvements and training for mechanics and drivers, pieces SCRTD officials said are central to a 10‑year plan to expand regional service. "In this category, we applied for $5,000,000. Yes. We're considered rural when we need to be considered rural," Armijo said.
Armijo described two applications. One is a larger rural-focused vehicle acquisition request totaling $5,000,000 that would buy buses (including hybrid options), fund workforce development and support facility integration tied to a planned new facility near La Mesa. He said the proposed project budgets $4,800,000 for vehicles and $240,000 for workforce development. The other application is under a bus and bus facilities program with an estimated project cost of about $2,100,000 that SCRTD proposed to fund with $1,700,000 in federal funds and $330,000 in local match; that package would add several midsize buses, three small electric vans, EV charging readiness work in the Sunland Park garage and equipment to support the district's computer-aided tracking (CAT), automatic vehicle location (AVL) and mobile app.
Armijo said the district decided to pursue hybrid/diesel propulsion for larger vehicles in part because hybrids can travel more miles between fueling than current electric buses. He added the midsize electric vans are intended as transition vehicles for microtransit and vanpool work. "A single hybrid can fuel and go a minimum of 3,635 miles, where our electric buses are lucky to do 240 miles," Armijo said.
The executive director also showed a proposed map for a premium, limited-stop corridor connecting Las Cruces, Anthony and Sunland Park with potential onward service to El Paso International Airport. That plan would rely on existing park-and-ride locations and connections to SCRTD routes that serve New Mexico State University, Hatch and Anthony, and could include shuttles or circulators to connect riders to a central interchange point. Armijo said the airport service would likely be a premium, paid route and could be phased into the 10‑year plan if grant funding is secured.
Armijo described timing and risk: the bus-and-facilities grant expects award notices within about 60 days and, if funded, a compressed 12‑month implementation window for some elements. He said the district also plans a solar array (microgrid) at the Summit Park facility and identified the Summit Park garage as the near-term site for facility expansion and EV preparation.
Board members asked budget and procurement questions during the presentation; Councilor Flores sought clarity on which months the ridership totals covered and on the project's affordability and oversight. Armijo said ridership through June was about 11,453 for that month and 123,000 rides year to date and characterized the district's chances in rural-targeted grant pools as stronger when applying through the New Mexico state process.
No board motion to fund or to accept grant awards was taken; Armijo said staff would manage subrecipient versus direct-recipient requirements and pursue local matching funds where needed. He noted some state-level uncertainty about green projects but said staff had discussed priorities with the state secretary and would design "big and beautiful projects" he believes could compete.
If funded, the projects would require follow-up steps including procurement, facility design and potential matching funds from local sources; Armijo said staff and the district's legal counsel would manage procurement and compliance. The district plans additional public updates and return-to-board briefings as project details and awards are confirmed.
