Dallas ISD is granted 25 new electric school buses | The Hub
Dallas ISD will will receive $7.6 million to help fund new electric school buses and build the necessary infrastructure as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus program. (Photo credit to Dallas ISD News Hub, November 4, 2022)
Dallas ISD has received assistance from the World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus initiative which “aims to build unstoppable momentum toward an equitable transition of the entire U.S. school bus fleet to electric by 2030, bringing health, climate and economic benefits to children and families… “ (Photo credit to Electric School Bus Initiative)
American Lung Association “Score” for Dallas Air Quality.
Dallas-Fort Worth gets a failing grade again for its air quality, study finds the air remains pretty unhealthy to breathe, with some levels getting worse year-over-year.
“Researchers attributed the high levels of ozone pollution to warming temperatures as we’ve seen some of the hottest years on record globally. With climate change driving warmer temperatures, they warn, ozone pollution is more likely to form and becomes more difficult to clean up.”
Additional articles and news releases:
Amid air quality concerns, districts embrace electric buses
Accelerating the Transition to Electric School Buses: How schools, lawmakers and utilities can work together to speed the transition to zero emissions electric buses. (View report here)
ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES CAN REDUCE KIDS’ EXPOSURE TO TOXIC FUMES
The report from U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center, and Frontier Group, “Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air,” shows that a full transition to electric school buses in the U.S. could avoid an average of 5.3 million tons of climate-altering pollution each year — the equivalent of taking a million cars off the road.
Children’s Exposure to Diesel Exhaust on School Buses
After riding the big yellow (diesel) school bus 12 years, the new high school graduate is 4% more likely to get cancer than if she had not ridden the diesel bus to school.
The Largest Electric School Bus Program in the Nation
The states and companies that have already started purchasing electric school buses now have preferred customer status in a suppliers market.
Largest Electric School Bus Program In United States Launching In Virginia.
Benefits of Electric School Buses—many internet articles are on the internet. This is a small sampling.
Top 6 Benefits of Electric School Buses, Nov 18, 2020.
Making Yellow School Buses a Little More Green.
Drawbacks to using electric buses
The Four Most Common Drawbacks of Electric School Buses and What you can Do about Them.
Warning! Electric school buses are so quiet, the bus driver can hear conversations occurring in the back of the bus 😉
Electric Bus Funding Opportunities
In 2019, Dallas ISD turned down the opportunity to purchase electric school buses with its potential $2,000,000 share of the federally managed Volkswagen settlement money for falsifying diesel testing. The district has not applied for any outside funding since 2019. Instead the district continues to purchase more diesel school buses with the $75 million approved in the 2018 bond for purchasing new buses and a bus barn. Unlike the transparency for spending other bond money, the Dallas ISD website does not track spending the 2018 bond money for buses.
One staff member was told by Dallas ISD management, “We really don’t want government money because we have to track bus use and report on the new buses.” (Private conversation)
Purchasing Electric School Buses as a Service
Companies have recognized that school districts do not have the expertise to navigate the technical intricacies of transitioning from diesel to electric school buses. Here are two such companies that can enable the transition with no up-front money from the school district and at a total cost the same as or lower than the district is paying for diesel buses today.
- Highland Electric Transportation
2. E Squared Energy Advisors
GreeningDallasISD 