Public News Service’s Post

Here is another good read on the benefits of adding propane autogas to your fleet.

#Electric school buses aren’t the only focus of the California Air Resources Board when it comes to getting students to and from class. CARB announced Thursday it awarded $33 million to seven low-income communities to fund zero-emissions transportation and mobility options that can benefit schoolchildren. Electric school buses aren’t a part of any project, although the City of El Monte near Los Angeles is receiving over $6.5 million to purchase four electric shuttle buses to transport students and a charging station as well as to provide driver training. Instead, the #CleanMobility in Schools and #Sustainable #Transportation Equity Project mostly targets #electriccar and #bikesharing, and other bicycle and pedestrian programs such as Safe Routes to School. Sacramento City Unified School District will use a $500,000 grant to conduct a needs assessment for its Safe Routes to School for All program. The project will include walking audits of 15 schools to assess transportation and safety barriers, as well as plan outreach and education events. “Planning for a zero-emission future means helping Californians access essential everyday needs with clean and shared transportation options while reducing reliance on personal vehicles,” said CARB Liane Randolph in a statement. “Through these clean mobility grants, we are helping communities bring their transportation ideas to fruition and addressing historic inequities in places that have been underserved by mobility options.” Other winners are the cities of Hayward, Needles, #SanDiego, and several cities in the San Joaquin Valley. The funding is part of the $48 billion California Climate Commitment, which includes over $10 billion to accelerate the ZEV transition and build charging infrastructure. Funding also comes from California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative using billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars. So far, CARB says has allocated $265 million statewide to purchase electric school buses. From School Transportation News by Ryan Gray

In this article by School Bus Fleet you'll learn how we've helped Steelton-Highspire School District and Billings Public Schools reduce school bus emissions to improve student health with the deployment of electric school buses. We currently operate over 350 zero-emission buses that have driven more than 3.5 million miles and we're not stopping. Click below and find out more about the benefits of operating electric school buses. #EV #electricschoolbus #goyellowgogreen #focusonsafety #caringforstudents

More students than ever are headed to class in an electric school bus this fall as school districts race to take advantage of unprecedented government funding to replace their diesel fleets. The growing electric bus movement, fueled by a plethora of state and federal incentives, promises to reduce tailpipe emissions and improve kids' health, too. Electric school buses can also act as giant batteries to store surplus energy when not in use. That means cash-strapped districts can earn money from their parked buses by selling power back to the grid during times of peak demand. Almost 235,000 U.S. students currently ride electric school buses, according to the World Resources Institute, whose Electric School Bus Initiative closely tracks adoption rates. That's still a tiny fraction of the 21 million kids who take the bus to school in the U.S. each day. More than 90% of current buses run on gasoline or diesel fuel. Most others run on propane or compressed natural gas. Congress set aside $5 billion over five years to replace diesel-burning school buses under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Clean School Bus Program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, prioritizes school districts in low-income, rural and Tribal communities. So far, the EPA has spent $2.8 billion to fund more than 8,000 electric school buses. There are about 12,000 electric school buses in the U.S., representing 2.5% of the total 493,000 school buses. Each electric bus costs around $370,000, over three times the price of a diesel bus, but lifetime savings on fuel and maintenance average $100,000. This cost gap is often bridged by government subsidies, with the EPA's Clean School Bus Program funding about two-thirds of the electric buses. States like California, Colorado, and New York also offer rebates, along with local utilities providing financial incentives. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes a $40,000 rebate for electric commercial vehicles, making electric school buses nearly free for many districts. However, their introduction has sparked controversy in some areas, particularly since they are often deployed in low-income, non-white neighborhoods facing high pollution levels, like Salt Lake City's Rose Park. As the Clean School Bus Program approaches its end in two years, it remains to be seen if Congress will extend funding to retire more diesel buses.

The demand for electric school buses is growing - AMAZING news for the health and benefit of our littlest and most important stakeholders🌟 The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enabled the EPA to fund the Clean School Bus Program (CSBP), providing $5B over five years to replace diesel school buses with clean alternatives. In the first two years, CSBP has funded 8,000+ electric school buses serving over 16M students in 49 states.   We found some interesting stats in the first two rounds of applications📈 ✅ Over 2500 school districts have applied for CSBP, 91% of them being for electric school buses ✅ During the first round, over 2000 applications requested $4B worth of funding! The EPA only released $500M in the first round ✅ $965M was available for the second round, and $2B was requested ✅ 98% of second-round funding awards went to electric school buses The rise in demand isn’t surprising due to the benefits for kids and communities when schools upgrade to electric. By eliminating tailpipe emissions, communities can help reduce air pollution, which is linked to higher rates of asthma, respiratory issues, and lower IQ levels in children and teens.🙌 The good news is more rounds of funding are on the way. The future of electric school buses is looking bright!😎⚡ https://lnkd.in/grQW7mjW

Electric School Buses Are Coming to Glades County Schools An initial group of nearly 1,700 students will have access to clean and reliable transportation through the district's 13 new electric school buses MOORE HAVEN, Fla., Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Glades County School District today announced its plans to upgrade more than half of the district's fleet to electric by deploying 13 Type C Blue Bird electric school buses and electrifying two charging depots. Provided by local school bus dealer – Florida Transportation Systems – Glades County School District will have a significant advancement in their fleet with the acquisition of new electric buses, which will help to improve air quality and provide reliable electric transportation to students at Moore Haven Elementary, West Glades School, and Moore Haven Middle-High School. This momentous opportunity comes as a much-needed solution to address the outdated state of the current fleet, where a majority of buses exceed ten years in service, and some even reaching a staggering twenty-five years. The decision to invest in electric buses marks a monumental win for

⚡️Two-thirds of parents prefer electric school buses. That’s the un-shocking news in today’s Forbes article by Jamie Hailstone that examines why parents would prefer their kids ride on an electric school bus over a diesel one, citing data from a new survey conducted by Highland Electric Fleets. That’s not at all surprising. As I noted: ⚡️parents increasingly recognize that electric school buses are a commitment to their children’s health and well-being ⚡️by reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality, these buses represent a critical step toward safer, healthier school commutes and a cleaner environment for future generations Read on to see more survey results and hear from leaders across the ecosystem about how electric school buses make sense for kids, parents, drivers and communities. Rachel Chard at CALSTART Brooke Petry from Moms Clean Air Force Clean Air Force and Duncan McIntyre with Highland Electric Fleets https://lnkd.in/eQPKBMZx

Kids and Parents Are Happy and Healthier with Electric School Buses https://lnkd.in/gPd73fs8 auto connected car newsA majority of U.S. parents would prefer their children ride on electric school buses instead of diesel-powered ones, according to a new survey conducted by Highland Electric Fleets, a leader in fleet electrification services. The poll, which surveyed parents of children aged 5 to 17 who ride school buses, revealed that 65% favor electric buses. The findings come as only 2.5% of the nation’s more than 500,000 school buses are currently electric or “committed” to electrification—encompassing those funded, ordered, or already in operation. The push for electric school buses is driven largely by health concerns, with 89% of surveyed parents

Transitioning to electric school buses reduces school transportation costs considerably while improving student health outcomes. Dive in to the costs, advantages, and trends in electric school buses across the U.S.

“Pontiac School District to launch 40 electric school buses next school year” Marnie Muñoz - The Detroit News - March 19, 2024 “Pontiac — The Pontiac School District is putting 40 new #electricschoolbuses on the road as soon as August as part of a federal effort to reduce the number of #dieselpoweredbuses transporting kids to and from school, administrators announced Tuesday.” “The electric #schoolbuses , alongside four new electric cargo vans, are the product of the federal government’s #CleanSchoolBus program, a 5-year $5 billion investment to help local governments and school districts around the country replace #dieselbuses , said Debra Shore, Region 5 administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.” ““With this investment, Pontiac is prepared to once again be the epicenter of #transportationinnovation , as the school district is now on its way to operate the country's first #allelectricfleet ,” Shore said at a press conference Tuesday to show off some of the new #buses in Pontiac.” “Pontiac is one of several Michigan districts investing in electric buses. Detroit Public Schools Community District and Lansing Public Schools also each will receive $5.9 in federal funding to buy 15 #cleanpoweredschoolbuses apiece.” “With the additional #electricbuses , Pontiac schools now has the largest fleet of #electricvehicles in Oakland County, said Pontiac School District School Board President Gill Garrett.” “Administrators wanted to give Pontiac students a #healthier , more #sustainable mode of #transportation to get to school without contributing further to #greenhousegasemissions , said Kimberly Leverette, the district's interim superintendent.” “The Pontiac School District began making more concerted efforts towards #sustainabletransportationinfrastructure in recent years, including tactics like placing #EVchargingstations at schools across the district, Leverette said.” https://lnkd.in/e_jgaVpH? Source- original post Read all my posts #MariusPreston