Which States Are Leading the Electric School Bus Transition?

Across the United States, more than 3,000 school buses that run on batteries, not gasoline, will transport K-12 students to school this year, according to a recent report from a California-based environmental advocacy agency.

The Zeroing in on Electric School Buses (ESB) report, released by the nonprofit CALSTART this month, said as of December 2022, 3,043 electric school buses have been awarded, ordered, delivered or deployed across the nation, not including fleets in districts that are awaiting funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The road to a 100 percent zero-emissions future requires bringing school buses on board with the vision of a California with clean air,” Steven Cliff, CEO of the California Air Resources Board, said in CALSTART’s news release. “Through incentive programs and grants, California has invested over $1.5 billion to fund the transition toward zero-emission school buses, which in turn helps to create healthier communities for our children.”

The report identified the top five ESB states as California, with 1,689 buses, followed by Maryland (336), Florida (218), Virginia (152) and New Jersey (90).

The states that saw the largest increase in ESB purchases for the one-year period between 2021 and 2022 include Illinois (from eight to 89), New Jersey (32 to 90), North Carolina (six to 54), Connecticut (two to 45) and New York (30 to 45), according to the report.

“Despite some of the barriers to adoption, such as the upfront costs, school districts have more support available to them than ever to help ease the transition to electric school buses,” Rachel Chard, CALSTART’s ESB national program manager, said in a public statement. “It’s clear from the data that school districts are eager to electrify with increases in adoption and program participation happening across the U.S.”

The states that currently have zero ESBs: New Hampshire, West Virginia, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arkansas, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. Both Alaska and Hawaii each have one ESB, while Texas has three, according to the report.

The vast majority of states don’t have laws requiring zero-emission buses, so most school districts made their purchases by choice and not because of regulations. Only California, New York and Michigan have laws mandating current or future use of ESBs, while legislators have proposed bills in Washington state, Illinois, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

Washington's legislation would require 70 percent of new school bus purchases to be zero-emission by 2030, and 100 percent by 2033.

According to the report, about $5 billion in federal funding is available to school districts to begin replacing their bus fleets with zero-emission vehicles, but it will take more than money to make ESBs commonplace across the nation.

“The spike in federal and state funding programs over the past year has curtailed the cost barriers for some school districts,” the report said. “Despite the cost barriers, funding programs do not always fully address all of a school district’s needs. The rapid expansion of ESBs will result in the need for school districts to have assistance with gaps in technical knowledge and the resources for fleet electrification planning as their ESB fleet grows.”

All told, 26 million students are transported by 480,000 school buses (gasoline or electric) daily, according to the report, which did not specify if this number includes college students. Less than 1 percent of the existing fleet is zero-emissions.

Electric buses can cost over three times more than conventional buses, and range in cost from $270,000 to $400,000. While these are significant increases for school districts, the report does suggest cost-saving measures for school districts to consider:

• Repowering existing buses with battery-powered engines. This measure can cost up to 40 percent less than purchasing a new electric bus, but finding established vendors who provide this service may be difficult in some states.
  
• Outsourcing transportation service with companies that have existing electric bus fleets.
  
• Exploring pilot programs with companies that might share some of the startup costs.
  
• Establish statewide "green banks" that reward environmentally compliant entities with grants and loans.
  

“As the electrification of the national school bus fleet has become a significant focus area for the United States in reducing greenhouse gas vehicle emissions, the Zeroing in on ESBs annual report will continue to track the growth of the ESB market as it matures over time,” the report concluded. “The increase in federal and state funding programs over the past year has reduced the most significant barrier of cost despite the fact that school districts frequently face resource limitations that prevent them from implementing this technology. For new school districts adopting ESBs, technical support and fleet electrification planning continue to be significant obstacles.”

CALSTART, a nonprofit based in Pasadena, Calif., began counting electric school bus purchases in 2021. The agency also tracks the number of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emissions trucks in North America.