Foothill Transit will retire six aging natural gas buses and replace them with zero-emission models after Rep. Judy Chu delivered $850,000 in federal funding on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The agency operates routes through Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, including Rose Bowl game-day shuttles that run through Old Pasadena.
The six buses have reached the end of their service lives under Federal Transit Administration rules, Chu's office said, according to Pasadena Now. The money came through fiscal 2026 Community Project Funding. Chu had requested $6 million. She got $850,000.
Pasadena has a direct stake in the outcome. The city is one of 22 members of the joint powers authority that governs Foothill Transit, and Mayor Victor M. Gordo holds Pasadena's seat on the agency's board. Councilmember Rick Cole serves as alternate.
Chu presented the check at Foothill Transit's Arcadia yard, joined by CEO Doran Barnes and the agency's board of directors.
Local routes
Foothill Transit's Line 187 ends westbound at Raymond Avenue and Walnut Street, linking Pasadena with East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. The agency also operates Rose Bowl shuttles from the Parsons parking area in Old Pasadena for UCLA football games and other stadium events, funneling fans through the retail corridor on game days.
Foothill Transit is not the city's primary local circulator. Pasadena Transit handles most trips within city limits, but Line 187 is the main east-west connector into the valley.
State mandate looming
The grant arrives as California transit agencies face a tightening state mandate. The Innovative Clean Transit regulation requires agencies to purchase only zero-emission buses starting in 2029 and convert their entire fleets by 2040.
In a separate Metro Magazine interview about zero-emission bus funding challenges, Barnes described the grant-dependent procurement process as "funding projects with lottery tickets," noting that most agencies only move forward on purchases when a grant comes through.
Chu wrote on Facebook that she was "proud to deliver" the funding, praising Foothill Transit's long record of adopting cleaner technology.
No timeline has been announced for when the replacement buses will enter service or which routes they will run.
