U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced today that the federal government will award $1.45 million to the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services for the purchase and deployment of fully electric transit buses.

“Hawai‘i has long been a leader in clean energy, and the city of Honolulu is building on that legacy by transitioning to buses that will keep our air clean,” Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a press release. “I’m glad that this funding will take our state one step closer to reaching our goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.”

Schatz’s office said a zero-emission electric bus could eliminate nearly 1,700 tons of carbon pollution over its 12-year lifespan, the equivalent of taking 27 cars off the road.

The funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation is part of Honolulu’s ongoing effort to electrify its public transit operation through public-private partnerships. Hawaiian Electric is expected to install the electric infrastructure for up to five Battery-Electric Buses while Gillig Corporation LLC, the largest all-American bus manufacturer in the United States, will produce the buses.