Going Electric: School Bus Fleets on the Road to Diesel Alternatives

Additional Resources

School leaders who want to replace diesel buses with electric ones face the major challenge of high upfront expenses. Electric buses cost about three times more than diesel vehicles and require a charging infrastructure.

By working with a network of organizations ranging from local utilities to state and federal environmental agencies and nonprofit environmental groups, school districts can get help with the costs. Groups such as Highland Electric Fleets offer financing and leasing programs.

What follows are a few organizations that school district officials can contact about going electric with their transit fleet.

• Alliance For Electric School Buses has a mission to electrify the nation’s school bus fleet. 
• Electric School Bus Coalition, a group of bus makers, electric utilities, non-governmental organizations and material providers, promotes electric buses. 
• The Electric School Bus Collaborative. AASA, along with the Association of School Business Officials International and the National Association for Pupil Transportation, have formed a partnership to help districts work with EPA’s Clean School Bus program, offering $5 billion in grants over five years. Contact AASA’s Sasha Pudelski at spudelski@aasa.org for more information.
• Highland Electric Fleets offers financing plans to make electric school buses more affordable. 
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s $5 billion Clean School Bus Program offers grants to help school districts buy electric buses. 
• World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative works with bus manufacturers, utilities, policymakers and community groups to give school districts technical and financial help in acquiring electric school buses.