Riding in – and driving – a school bus certainly more pleasant these days in California, as the state has rolled out a fleet of zero-emissions yellow buses and is going to add hundreds moren is the southern part of the state.
In an area heavily involved in climate control and clean air, money for new electric buses is flowing in from a lottery held last month by I have to go to school every day. The discount from 1.2 trillion dollars Federal bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last yearincluding $5 billion for EPA to offset clean buses over five years.
Currently, according to the Orange County Registrar, there are about 570 battery-powered school buses operating on California roads, but that’s only a small fraction of the nearly 24,000 school buses in the state. state, according to a report from State Air Resources Board. About 52 percent of the state’s public school bus fleet is still operating diesel oilwith some vehicles up to 44 years old.
Despite the funding, some local educators and school districts are displeased and say political and economic leaders have not shown enough support if the state is meeting its climate goals. clean air.
“We have had more than 120 days of dirty air this year. Winter is coming and that’s when we see particulate matter increase,” Yass Kavezade, a Sierra Club campaign leader. “So Southern California really needs these school buses to be electrified as quickly as possible.”
Reports say that there are 11 companies making electric school buses for sale in California today, buses that can travel 100 to 155 miles on a single charge. But the transition can be expensive: electric buses start at around $270,000 each, and can rise to more than $400,000 for models that can carry up to 90 students. Charger the infrastructure can add several hundred thousand dollars, plus significant space requirements and matching licenses and other red tapes.
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