The greening of our school bus fleet will soon take a major step forward – BUSD’s first electric school buses. The Transportation division successfully shepherded applications for grant funding, which will provide eight full-size electric school buses.
The large Bluebird buses are anticipated to be delivered this summer, once we have completed the necessary charging infrastructure and satisfied the required inspections and regulatory approvals.
BUSD’s Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, Pauline Follansbee, said the Transportation team deserves kudos for its initiative and perseverance in securing the outside grants. The funding consists of more than $1.4 million from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and $1.7 million from the Hybrid Voucher Incentive Program for a total of $3,199,532, according to Transportation Manager Sheila Collier.
The new buses will join eight small gasoline-powered buses that the District received in November, thanks to the Transportation division’s successful grant application to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Those buses are less polluting than the older diesel buses they replaced.