State of Electrical College Buses — 2024 Version

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Knowledge reveals leaders and laggards for whole electrical college buses and mixed investments driving electrical college bus conversion.

Introduction

Annually, greater than 490,000 college buses shuttle kids forwards and backwards throughout america –to high school, area journeys, sporting occasions and extra. As most of those buses burn diesel gas, kids and drivers are uncovered to dangerous pollution which are linked to bronchial asthma, different well being points and cognitive improvement issues.

Conversely, electrical college buses have zero tailpipe emissions, and due to this fact provide a cleaner, more healthy different to diesel buses. This report finds the variety of these zero-emission automobiles are rising at school districts across the nation, thanks partly to massive investments from Congress and states to transition to electrical college buses.

Federal Funding

As a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, Congress approved as much as $5 billion to assist college districts transition to electrical college buses through the Clear College Bus Program (CSBP). This system offers grant and rebate funding alternatives to high school districts, nonprofit college transportation associations and tribal organizations to switch older, diesel buses with newer, electrical or low-emission fashions.

The primary spherical of funding functions underneath the brand new program solicited functions from Could by way of August 2022, and the EPA acquired roughly 2,000 functions requesting practically $4 billion for 12,000 buses. As a result of excessive demand, the company practically doubled its preliminary $500 million rebate pool. The awards for that spherical of funding are proven under.

2022 Clear College Bus Rebate Program Awards

In 2023, the EPA opened a second funding alternative by way of the 2023 Clear College Bus Grant Program, which offered grants slightly than the earlier rebate. Winners had been chosen based mostly on their functions and prioritizing excessive want and rural college districts.

2023 Clear College Bus Grant Program Awards

In September 2023 a 3rd spherical of funding opened within the type of a rebate. On Could twenty ninth, the EPA introduced awards for the 2023 rebates, proven within the desk under.

2023 Clear College Bus Rebate Program Awards

The Clear Heavy Obligation Autos Grant Program

The Inflation Discount Act units apart $1 billion to fund the transition to zero-emission heavy responsibility automobiles together with zero-emission Class 6 or Class 7 college buses through the Clear Heavy Obligation Autos (CHDV) Grant Program. This program was open to different heavy responsibility electrical automobiles along with Class 6 and seven college buses, together with dump vans, transit buses, supply vans and others. Functions for grants opened in April 2024, and the software interval closed in July 2024. Details about awards for the CHDV program will likely be posted on the EPA Clear Heavy Obligation Automobile Program web site.

The EPA plans to inform grantees in November 2024 and award the grants in February 2025.

State Funding

Along with the EPA’s monumental funding within the transition to electrical college buses, states from throughout the nation have adopted laws of their very own to assist college districts in changing older diesel buses with cleaner electrical ones.

Under is an inventory of the highest 10 states based mostly on the full state and federal funding devoted to electrical college buses as of Could 29, 2024.*

A whole record of states ranked by public funding for electrical college buses may be present in Appendix A.

Variety of electric college buses by state

Utilizing information from the World Assets Institute’s Electrical College Bus Dashboard, the next desk reveals the standing of whole dedicated electrical college buses (ESBs), awarded ESBs, ordered ESBs, delivered or working ESBs, and the variety of college students using ESBs for every state. The World Assets Institute thought of electrical college buses “dedicated” whereas in any of the 4 levels of adoption: awarded, ordered, delivered or working — as long as “a faculty district or fleet operator has been awarded funding to buy it or makes a proper settlement to buy to buy it from a producer — not after they have solely expressed intent to accumulate one.”

On the time the info was collected in Could 2024, 48 states had electrical college buses delivered or in operation, with the exceptions of Wyoming and Idaho.

As of August 1, 2024, the highest states for dedicated electrical college buses are listed under:

High 10 states for dedicated electrical college buses as of 8/1/2024

States with the fewest dedicated electrical college buses included Delaware, Alaska and Wyoming. For a whole rating of dedicated electrical college buses by state, see Appendix B.

Suggestions

For varsity districts