Healey sends Volkswagen settlement funds to electrify transit systems

Photo | Courtesy of State House News Service Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey

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By Kevin Koczwara

The Gov. Maura Healey Administration has allocated $34.3 million from the 2017 Volkswagen settlement to fund electric buses for regional transit authorities and electric vehicle projects.

“These funds will go a long way toward supporting our administration’s priority of regional equity,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a press release Friday. “By incentivizing electrification of our regional transit authorities, we are both reducing greenhouse gasses and improving public health in every corner of the commonwealth.”

The funds come out of the 2017 court settlement between federal state governments and the German automaker for the use of devices producing fraudulent emission results for some of its vehicles, which was in violation of federal and state laws. Litigation was handled by Healey, who was the Massachusetts attorney general at the time, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The settlement amounted to $75 million going to Massachusetts and an environmental penalty of $20 million for the vehicle manufacturer.

“As Attorney General, I took on Volkswagen for flagrantly violating laws that protect public health and the air that we breathe and secured millions for our state to help meet our electric power needs,” Healey said in the release. “We’re pleased to use these final settlement funds to reach our clean energy goals and support the electrification of our transit fleets.”

The majority of the $75 million has been allotted to supporting regional transit authorities' transition to electric vehicles. In total, $48.8 million has been allotted to purchase electric transit buses and chargers by regional transit authorities. On top of that, $11.3 million was spent to purchase and install light-duty electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Massachusetts; $15 million split between two installments was used for proposals to implement projects eligible under the Volkswagen settlement; and $50,000 went to administrative funds to disburse checks to grantees.