PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority has avoided federal funding woes for now, according to CEO Chris Durand.

Durand updated RIPTA’s board of directors on the state of the authority’s federal funding, as well as the current condition of its bus hub, among other business at the board’s Feb. 27 meeting.

Durand said RIPTA hasn’t seen the funding pauses and cancellations that have hit a range of agencies around the country since the start of the second Trump administration.

“You’re lucky as an agency, you are one of the few that can say that,” said Peter Alviti, board chair and director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

Much of the federal funding that RIPTA receives comes from the Federal Transit Administration, which sits within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Although funding problems haven’t affected the authority yet, Durand said there could be issues with the funding that RIPTA hopes to receive to electrify buses in Newport.

Electric vehicles and climate change policies and programs in general have been a target for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Durand said the money for e-buses in Newport hasn’t yet been obligated.

Durand also gave the board an update on improvements at Kennedy Plaza.

RIPTA plans to move cleaning the bus hub in-house and increasing the frequency of cleaning, as well as fixing or replacing some of the plaza’s electronic messaging boards.

Maintenance workers have already had success trying their own hand at repairing a bus shelter and have a schedule worked out for fixing the structures throughout the state.

Although it wasn’t on the agenda for the open session of the meeting, board member and former state senator Robert Kells asked questions about where a new bus hub could be constructed.

Durand said the discussion of a location should be saved for the executive session, a closed section of a public meeting that can be called to discuss and make decisions about sensitive matters, including real estate negotiations.

Alviti told Kells that properties near the train station appear to be of the most interest and that the agency was still working with consultants to complete its final analysis, which it will present to the board so it can make a final decision.

“Been waiting a long time,” Kells said.

On top of the funding and hub discussions, the board also approved a “fluids procurement,” which got a laugh from board members and the meeting’s audience.

The contract will cost about $423,000 annually for five years and covers all types of vehicle fluids, including motor oils, lubricants, and transmission fluids, according to the John Chadwick, deputy chief of procurement inventory and fleet operations at RIPTA.

The next RIPTA board meeting is scheduled for March 27.