Robert Cramer is in his first month on the job as Detroit’s executive director of transit. He replaces Michael Staley, who left the role to work in the private sector.

Cramer has spent recent years working as general manager for the People Mover. Speaking after Transit Riders United’s annual State of Transit event on Tuesday, he said his new role with the Department of Transit has a lot in common with his previous work.

Listen: DDOT Executive Director Robert Cramer talks improving service and what’s next for the city’s transit options

“Whether that’s with the People Mover or DDOT, they’re very different systems but they have the same base needs — which is that people want safe reliable service,” Cramer said.

Officials with the Detroit Department of Transit are concerned federal grant funding for alternative energy buses could be at risk under the Trump administration. The city is scheduled to receive money to buy four electric and four hydrogen buses, as part of pilot programs to explore their feasibility.

Cramer says the city will be interested in the technology, no matter what happens to the grants.

“Even if something happens, to chase that funding you know you just keep chopping away, fighting the daily fight, looking for different funding opportunities that might come up,” he said.

Cramer says the city of Detroit is scheduled to receive 45 new battery electric hybrid buses beginning this summer. He says those orders are locked in and won’t be affected by changes in federal policy.