Bredesen Announces Recovery Funds to Southeast Tennessee Human Resources Agency

 

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen announced today that Southeast Tennessee Human Resources Agency will receive $1.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for rural transportation services. SETHRA provides public transportation services for citizens in Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie Counties.  

 

“Many Tennesseans, particularly those with limited mobility, already rely on public transportation for their daily needs and many others would like to see expanded transit options,” said Bredesen. “The Recovery Act funds announced today will help rural transit providers in Tennessee improve service and replace aging fleets with safer, more reliable vehicles.”

 

A total of $17.9 million in Recovery Act funds will be provided to 12 rural transit agencies in Tennessee. 

 

“Coming from the fourth most rural congressional district in the country I understand the importance of providing rural residents, particularly those with limited economic means and mobility, with accessible and reliable transportation,” said Congressman Lincoln Davis. “These Recovery Act funds will allow Southeast Human Resources Agency to improve service by upgrading and expanding an aging fleet and provide thousands of Tennesseans with the mobility to continue being or becoming active members of their community.”

 

SETHRA plans to use the dollars to replace approximately 26 demand response vehicles, transit and training facility paving, security equipment and fencing. 

 

“Many of the vans and buses in the rural transportation fleets have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles over the years and have outlasted their useful life,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Replacing these vehicles will allow transit agencies to provide safer, more dependable service to their customers and will generate manufacturing work for the companies providing the vehicles.”

 

Federal Recovery Act Transit funds are administered by TDOT’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Resources. Tennessee received a total of $72 million in Recovery Act transit funds. Of those funds, $42.2 million was directed by the federal government to the state’s four large urban areas, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville.

 

For more information on TDOT’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Resources visit www.tn.gov/tdot. For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, visit www.recovery.gov. For TDOT specific information on the Recovery Act visit www.tn.gov/tdot/recovery.

 

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