YOUNGSTOWN — The Western Reserve Transit Authority received a $1,848,023 grant that will be used toward the purchase of two electric-powered buses.

The funding comes from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emission Reduction Grant, which is supported with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality dollars awarded by the Federal Highway Administration.

The grant will cover 75% of the cost of two electric-powered vehicles to replace two older diesel-powered transit buses past their useful life. The buses won’t be on the road until at least 2027.

“This is a win for the environment because as older buses reach the end of their useful life and are retired, we can replace them with zero-emission vehicles,” said Dean Harris, WRTA’s executive director. “It’s also a win for local taxpayers because the state-federal grant covers 75% of the replacement cost.”

WRTA has been working toward sustainable, zero-emission buses.

WRTA in November started using an eight-passenger autonomous electric minibus that travels a route that goes from its downtown station along Fifth Avenue to Youngstown State University and St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

WRTA, based in Youngstown, provides bus service in Mahoning County and parts of Trumbull County.

WRTA will receive $32.6 million from the federal infrastructure law to help it replace its fleet of 47 large buses and about 25 smaller ones with low-emission and no-emission buses. The goal is to go all-electric by 2040.

The federal funding also will cover electric charging stations, new bus shelters, improvements to WRTA’s Mahoning Avenue office and its “bus barn” there, which is used as its primary facility for bus maintenance and operations, as well as the reconstruction of its Federal Street station and training its workers on how to maintain the new fleet and equipment.