The Laketran Board of Trustees have approved the purchase of 10 motor coach buses for the transit agency’s Park-n-Ride service for commuters to Cleveland.

The purchase of the 40-foot buses will be paid for by 80 percent federal funding through Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grants and 20 percent local funds from the 0.25-percent sales tax Laketran collects.

Laketran will purchase the buses for $611,921 each for a total of $6,119,210 from Des Plaines, Ill.-based Motor Coach Industries.

“We’re replacing buses that are 17-year-old,” said Brian Falkowski, Laketran board president. “We’re very excited about the technology and environmental benefits of the new fleet.”

Falkowski said the new buses will be more fuel efficient and equipped with charging stations, wireless Internet, and bike racks.

“We feel these amenities will attract riders looking to get more out of their daily commute than just sitting in traffic,” he said.

Officials anticipate these new buses will be in use by summer 2016.

Laketran General Manager Ray Jurkowski said the budgeting and procurement process for public transit bus purchases takes about five years to secure federal funding and to budget the local match.

“The timing of this purchase is critical,” Jurkowski said. “It takes years to plan these purchases and the future of transit funding is very uncertain.”

He said the federal transportation bill expires within the next two weeks and there is no long-term federal plan in place.

“There is nothing but a three-month continuing resolution being offered by Congress to fund the future of America’s infrastructure including highways, bridges, and public transportation,” Jurkowski said. “Plus, ODOT has restructured the allocation of CMAQ funds for the next funding cycle and it’s not favorable for public transportation.”

He said a new process starting in federal Fiscal Year 2016 will enable Laketran to only replace one of four coach buses and four of 12 Dial-a-Ride buses eligible for replacement during the four-year period from 2016 through 2020.

The new buses will have high-back reclining cushioned passenger seats with retracting seatbelts, overhead storage, and an annunciator system to digitally announce both internally and externally pre-recorded bus stops and transfer information for connecting Laketran and RTA buses.

Other features include automatic passenger counters to help with planning and reporting required statistics to federal and state agencies, on-board security cameras, automatic vehicle locators with mobile data terminals, radios compatible with first responders, wheelchair lifts and capacity to accommodate two wheelchairs.