California Awards $500 Million for 1,000 Zero-Emission School Buses
California has awarded $500 million to put about 1,000 zero-emission school buses on the road, continuing the state's push to electrify school fleets. Awardees receive up to $375,000 to replace an internal combustion school bus with a zero-emission vehicle, plus up to $95,000 per bus for charging infrastructure, and must scrap an old bus for every new one purchased.
The state said this round of grants is expected to cut about 18,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, equivalent to taking more than 4,000 cars off the road for a year. First priority went to small and rural districts and to agencies with large shares of students receiving free or reduced-price meals, foster youth or English learners; about 98% of selected agencies serve low-income or disadvantaged communities. A state-funded study has found that although bus commutes are less than 10% of a child's day, they can account for up to 33% of a child's daily exposure to some air pollutants on a diesel bus.
To date, California has provided more than $1.3 billion in incentives, funding more than 2,300 zero-emission school buses, of which 1,100 are already in use, and more than 300 districts have purchased at least one. Under state law, all school bus purchases by California districts must be zero-emission by 2035, with an extension to 2045 for frontier rural agencies.
(Source: California Air Resources Board)
Source: California Air Resources Board
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: LionC 全电动校车，Wikimedia Commons，Pierre5018，CC BY 4.0 / LionC all-electric school bus, Wikimedia Commons, Pierre5018, CC BY 4.0
