Bowling Green has gotten a major influx of funding for transit in the city.

The city is getting $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration as part of the CARES Act.

Of that amount, $1.9 million was released Thursday to the city.

The city’s GO bg Transit system is operated under contract by Community Action of Southern Kentucky, which has operated GO bg Transit since 2003.

“We have been working on this (funding) for a while,” City Neighborhood and Community Services Director Brent Childers said.

He said the funding doesn’t require a local match and is flexible in terms of how it is spent.

The city typically gets about $1.2 million in federal dollars for transit with a $430,000 match from the city. That means the $3.4 million “will cover a couple of years of funding,” Childers said.

The city will still receive the other about $1.2 million in federal funding for transit.

Aside from offsetting some city matching funds, the city is still determining how to use the extra funding, Childers said.

“We’re trying to plan the best we can for the future,” he said.

Like transit systems across the country, GO bg Transit has been impacted by a decrease in ridership amid the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic slowdown.

In May, the city commission approved hiring RATP Dev USA of Fort Worth, Texas, to handle transit management in the city.

The company will be involved in determining best uses for the additional funding, Childers said.