Metro has won an $1.5 million grant to upgrade bus shelters around the region, one of $787 million worth of federal transit funding projects awarded Monday.
The transit agency plans to use the money to improve bus stops, making them more accessible with better sidewalks, new ramps, shelters, benches, landscaping, lighting and real-time signage.
Earlier this year, Metro said nearly a third of its 11,490 bus stops are not handicapped accessible, leaving riders in wheelchairs unable to access the bus system.
Metro’s take of the federal grants was small compared with other projects. Baltimore, for example, will get $40 million to replace a bus facility.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the grants for the annual State of Good Repair and Bus Livability funds Monday. The demand for the program was huge, with 836 project applications totaling $4 billion of work, according to officials.
