The Mesa County Regional Transportation Planning Office received a federal grant worth more than $600,000 to help purchase three new paratransit buses for Grand Valley Transit.

The Mesa County Commission approved the $758,691 purchase order for the buses during its Oct. 6 meeting. The match ratio for bus expenses is 85 percent federal to 15 percent local, meaning the Federal Transit Administration grant covered $644,877 and the Grand Valley Regional Transportation Committee was responsible for $113,804.

These buses, which run on compressed natural gas, will have the ability to carry up to 12 passengers and have five wheelchair positions, an increase from the normal two-wheelchair positions. Paratransit buses that run on CNG cost approximately $30,000 to $50,000 more than a diesel bus, depending on vendor and bus type, but the higher price tag is offset by the lower cost of fueling the buses with CNG.