Scientists have been sounding the alarm for decades about how kids who regularly inhale emissions from diesel-fueled school buses face an elevated risk of developing each of these conditions. And those risks are greatest for low-income students, who are more likely to rely on public transportation to get to school while also riding more often in older buses that spew the highest levels of pollution.
School bus exhaust also isn’t helping California and the nation get closer to ambitious climate goals aimed at slowing global warming by reducing carbon emissions.
The irony is that, except for the exhaust, school buses otherwise are safer for kids, much better for traffic and a powerful tool to help reduce greenhouse gases. It would take some 17 million cars to replace the nearly 500,000 buses that carry more than 25 million students each day, according to data from the National Transportation Safety Board.
That’s where the growing push for electric school buses comes in.
New state, federal and private funding aimed at cleaning up bus fleets is set to bring hundreds of quiet, smooth-riding, emissions-free electric buses to Southern California school districts in 2023.
Districts or schools in Compton, Montebello, Hesperia, Banning, Pacific Palisades and San Jacinto, plus the Los Angeles County Office of Education, all got funds to buy one, 10 or even 25 electric buses through a lottery held last month by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rebates came from the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law approved last year, which set aside $5 billion for the EPA to dole out for clean buses over five years.
But even after overwhelming interest prompted the EPA to double the amount offered in the first round of its Clean School Bus program funding, more than three our of four districts that applied for funds received nothing. That leaves districts such as Anaheim Elementary, Lake Elsinore Unified, Whittier Union High and dozens more in Southern California stuck on a lengthy waitlist, hoping for help in the next round of funding to buy electric buses.
Electric school buses typically cost twice as much as traditional buses — and that’s before the costs of installing charging infrastructure. Those price tags, combined with some logistical challenges, are why just 2 percent of the estimated 23,800 school buses operating in California so far are hybrid or fully electric, according to a report from the state Air Resources Board. Some 52 percent of the state’s public school bus fleet still runs on diesel, with some up to 44 years old.
So while local environmental advocates say they’re excited to see unprecedented interest and momentum around this issue, they also believe California still needs to dramatically ramp up support for electrification of its massive school bus fleet if it wants to protect kids and come close to meeting its clean air goals.
“We’ve had over 120 dirty air days this year. The winter is coming, and that’s when we see particulate matter increase,” said Yassi Kavezade, a Sierra Club campaign leader based in the Inland Empire.
“So Southern California really needs these school buses to electrify as quickly as possible.”
SUPPLY, DEMAND AND SATISFACTION ARE SOLID
For some transportation sectors, such as heavy duty trucks, the slow pivot to electrification has been blamed at least in part on a dearth of suitable options. But with electric school buses, folks working in the space say both the technology and manufacturing capacity have reached a point where they can now meet a majority of school districts’ needs.
There are 11 companies making electric school buses sold in California today, with companies offering at least one electric version in all of the same types and classes as conventional buses. Those electric buses can drive between 100 and 155 miles on one charge, which one study found is enough for a vast majority of California’s school routes, outside of rural areas or buses used for long field trips.
Nick Voisard, who oversees electric vehicles for the parent company of Durham School Services — which contracts with several regional school districts, including Compton Unified — said his company could comfortably swap out 60 percent of its 17,000-bus fleet today based on current EV school bus technology. And he expects that percentage to increase dramatically in coming years as range improves.
Southern California is particularly well suited to electric school buses, noted Fred Ligouri, spokesman for Thomas Built, a bus manufacturer. In this region, issues such as cold weather and rural, mountainous routes, which can reduce the range of electric vehicles, aren’t very common.
Thomas Built has deployed 1,050 of its Jouley electric school buses nationally since they hit the market last year, including 51 now operating in California. And Ligouri said there’s “extremely strong” interest in getting more on the road, as evidenced by the number of districts that applied for the first round of EPA grant funding.
Voisard, of Durham Services, said districts that have received electric buses through his company have been happy.
To date, he said, Durham has rolled out 100 electric school buses, and the 25 buses Compton Unified is set to buy through the EPA lottery will be the company’s first in California. Each time they introduce one, Voisard said they give drivers the option of sticking with a traditional bus. And, each time, he said drivers jump at the chance to go electric and report high satisfaction once they’re behind the wheel.
They enjoy not smelling emissions all day long. They like the smoother ride. And Voisard said drivers even report that kids are quieter, since they’re not yelling over engine noise.
Electric buses also often include other perks that please both students and parents, such as integrated wireless internet and card-scanning systems that alert parents when kids board the bus.
When it comes to getting more clean school buses on the road, Adrian Martinez, a Los Angeles-based attorney with Earthjustice, said one thing is clear: “It’s not a technology problem. It’s a political will and economics problem.”
THE MONEY FACTOR
There were an estimated 570 electric school buses on California roads at the start of this calendar year, per the Air Resources Board. With 2 percent of its fleet now electric, the Golden State is ahead of the nation overall, where less than 1 percent of school buses are emissions-free.
The main reason districts haven’t been able to more rapidly electrify their school bus fleets is simply the upfront cost combined with tight education budgets, according to Jema Estrella, who’s in charge of facilities and sustainability for the L.A. County Office of Education. The oldest bus in the county office’s fleet is from 1997. No electric buses are yet in the mix, though they hope to get 10 on the road next year after winning the EPA lottery.
It typically costs between $130,000 and $200,000 to replace a single conventional diesel, clean natural gas or propane-powered school bus. Electric buses start at around $270,000 and can soar to more than $400,000 for models that can carry up to 90 students. Charging infrastructure can add another few hundred thousand dollars, plus require significant space, permitting and other red tape.
So the buses now on California roads have been funded through a variety of federal, state and private programs — and often all three sources combined.
Two years ago, El Monte Union High School District got $9.8 million to buy 11 electric buses through the California Air Resources Board’s Clean Mobility in Schools pilot program. They’ve started to operate some of those buses now and will have them all on the road as soon as charging stations are built out.
Earlier this year, Moreno Valley Unified School District announced that a third party, InCharge Energy, helped them cobble together federal, state and private support to install charging stations and buy 42 electric buses — believed to be the largest operating electrified school bus fleet in the state.
Even Volkswagen has unwittingly pitched in. Some $80 million, stemming from a 2018 settlement related to emissions from its diesel cars, has been set aside to help purchase dozens of electric school buses in California.
Once the buses are paid for, most local school districts turn to Southern California Edison for help charging them up. So long as districts have arrangements to buy at least two electric buses and operate them for at least 10 years, the utility often will cover any needed system upgrades through its Charge Ready programs. And for schools in low-income communities, Edison helps pay for the chargers.
So far, Edison has set up charging at 19 school sites across Southern California to support about 200 buses, company spokesman Paul Griffo said. Another 14 sites are in development to support 162 more buses.
The key is for districts to reach out to their utility company early in the bus-shopping process, according to Carter Prescott, director of electrification for Edison. It can take up to 14 months to build out appropriate infrastructure, and Edison can offer advisory services to help districts with everything from design to financial support.
With so many complex factors at play, there’s no fixed estimate for how long it takes electric school buses to pay for themselves. But it’s clear that over time they can save districts — and therefore taxpayers — serious money.
Moreno Valley Unified, for example, estimates it will save 75 percent on fuel and maintenance costs with its electric buses. And Los Angeles Unified said it expects to save $10,000 a year for each traditional bus replaced with an electric one.
Districts can save even more if they pair bus charging with solar panels. But there’s a substantial upfront cost to set such a system up, and Prescott said only a few districts Edison has worked with so far have gone that route.
School districts have potential to actually make money from their electric buses while also using them to help stabilize California’s energy grid by plugged them into bi-directional charging stations. With “vehicle-to-grid” programs, buses can charge up during off hours, then send stored electricity back to the grid when demand is high. School buses are particularly good candidates for such programs, since they have large batteries and sit idle for long stretches of time.
This summer, Cajon Valley Union School District in San Diego launched what’s believed to be the first vehicle-to-grid pilot program involving school buses. Eight buses are set up to put power back into the energy grid, according to a Times of San Diego report. The district can earn $2 for each kilowatt hour of power it exports.
While environmental groups say we should be past the pilot project phase, many districts said they’ve heard little to nothing about the potential for vehicle-to-grid. And, Prescott said, there’s no mechanism yet under the California Public Utilities Commission to let school districts become wholesale energy suppliers, though that’s an issue they’re trying to work through.
There also are challenges related to bus maintenance. While electric buses need much less routine work, most mechanics now employed or contracted by districts aren’t trained to deal with electric vehicles. The state is funding workforce programs to help, but for now most districts are stuck taking electric buses back to the manufacturer.
And while there’s more money available than ever to help school districts electrify their fleets, including another $1.8 billion California has committed over the next five years, Voisard said not all of that money is available to districts that contract for bus services.
There’s also no guarantee that today’s funding levels will continue. And if the state is going to meet its emissions goals, Martinez said California needs to not only maintain but significantly ramp up its pace in electrifying school buses.
CAN WE PICK UP THE PACE?
Though California has made significant strides in cleaning up its existing bus fleet with rules to limit idling and to convert engines to clean natural gas, transportation remains the state’s largest source of carbon pollution. So Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order last year that states, where feasible, all medium and heavy-duty vehicles must be zero-emission by 2045.
To hit that target, the Air Resources Board says California needs to replace roughly 674 school buses each year for the next 23 years, at an annual cost of roughly $270 million. For context, the EPA funding awarded last month will convert 177 buses in California over the coming year.
Many districts and private school transportation companies are even more ambitious. Los Angeles Unified, for example, set a goal to be 100 percent clean energy by 2040, while Durham Services aims to be 100 percent electric by 2035.
With his fleet so far at less than 1 percent electric, Voisard acknowledged he has a “heavy lift” ahead.
But if all goes to plan, he said, “The students we have as kindergartners should be riding in all-electric fleets by the time they graduate high school.”
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