Pierce Transit officials announced Monday the transportation agency has been awarded two grants administered by the Puget Sound Regional Council and totaling nearly $405,000 to purchase 15 replacement vanpool vehicles.

A Federal Highway Administration grant of $129,729 in Congestion Management and Air Quality funding from the Pierce County Transportation Coordination Committee will be used to purchase five vanpool vehicles. Another grant of $275,000 will be used to purchase 10 additional vanpool vehicles. Older and high-mileage vehicles will have first priority for replacement, according to Pierce Transit officials.

A vanpool is a group of five to 15 people sharing the ride in a seven-, eight-, 12-, or 15-passenger van. The service is offered to groups traveling to and from work whose trip origin or destination is within Pierce Transit’s service area. Vanpool participants pay a monthly fare that covers fuel, maintenance, and insurance costs.

As of last year, Pierce Transit’s vanpool program operated 346 vehicles, recorded 3,483 average weekday boardings, and served 2,643 vanpool customers.

More information is available online at piercetransit.org/vanpool.