WEBVTT - Why Should School Buses Go Electric?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff the production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Bogibom here. America's famous yellow school buses

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<v Speaker 1>have been slowly going electric, but more still will be

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<v Speaker 1>plugging in soon, thanks in large part to the one

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<v Speaker 1>point to twillion dollar bipartisan Infrastructure bill passed by the

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<v Speaker 1>US Senate auguste. While the bill has not yet been

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<v Speaker 1>passed into law, and many in the sustainable transportation community

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<v Speaker 1>are already excited about what this bill could mean for

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<v Speaker 1>the possibility of electrifying more of the US's fleet of

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred and eighty thousand school buses, and how that

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<v Speaker 1>could help lower emissions and improve air quality. Of the

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<v Speaker 1>one point to trillion dollar infrastructure bill, two point five

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<v Speaker 1>billion is earmarked for zero emissions buses, enough for roughly

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<v Speaker 1>eleven thousand electric vehicles, and another two point five billion

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<v Speaker 1>for low emission buses, which could be fueled by natural

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<v Speaker 1>gas or propane. While this may seem like a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money, it's significantly less than what President Joe Biden

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<v Speaker 1>initially proposed in March of this year, which was a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy four billion dollar lump sum to boost

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<v Speaker 1>the electric vehicle market, including nine thousand school buses instead

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<v Speaker 1>of the eleven thousand that the bill would now cover.

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<v Speaker 1>So why school buses? There are a lot of reasons

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<v Speaker 1>it makes sense for school buses to go electric. First,

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<v Speaker 1>most new electric buses have a range of up to

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and twenty miles. That's a hundred nine KOs

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<v Speaker 1>on a single charge, which is plenty far enough for

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<v Speaker 1>the average school bus route on. Second, some charging systems

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<v Speaker 1>can charge a bus in just ninety minutes. Plus, Electric

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<v Speaker 1>buses also require a lot less maintenance than their diesel counterparts,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's also simple numbers. School buses currently make up

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<v Speaker 1>around of the buses on the roads in the US,

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<v Speaker 1>and those run on high polluting diesel fuel the right now,

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<v Speaker 1>less than one percent are electric. For context, the entire

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<v Speaker 1>US transit fleet has around four and eighty thousand school

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<v Speaker 1>buses and just seventy public transportation buses. That's less than

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<v Speaker 1>fift percent of the number of school buses. For the article,

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<v Speaker 1>this episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Justice, development director at the Center for Transportation and

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<v Speaker 1>the Environment. She said transportation is the largest contributor to

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<v Speaker 1>greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The medium and heavy

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<v Speaker 1>duty sector produces more than percent of these emissions, despite

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<v Speaker 1>comprising less than five percent of vehicles on the road.

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<v Speaker 1>If the entire school bus fleet were electrified, greenhouse gas

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<v Speaker 1>emissions from all buses in the US would be reduced

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<v Speaker 1>by around fifty Along with the issue of adding greenhouse

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<v Speaker 1>gases into the atmosphere, thus increasing global warming and its

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<v Speaker 1>associated risks, these emissions are also harmful for the twenty

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<v Speaker 1>million school children who ride these buses to school. Not

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<v Speaker 1>only are these buses emitting in the neighborhoods through which

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<v Speaker 1>they drive, but the pollution inside the bus can actually

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<v Speaker 1>be up to twelve times higher than ambient levels. In addition,

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<v Speaker 1>it's an issue of equity. According to the World Resources Institute,

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<v Speaker 1>students from low income communities are particularly exposed to this

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<v Speaker 1>toxic pollution, and some sixty percent of students from low

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<v Speaker 1>income families use buses to get to and from school,

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<v Speaker 1>compared with forty five percent of students from higher income families,

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<v Speaker 1>an issue that's exacerbated in communities of color due to

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<v Speaker 1>America's history of racist economic policies in both the government

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<v Speaker 1>and private sector that concentrated those communities closer to highways

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<v Speaker 1>and policies from zoning, to housing, to lending to the

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<v Speaker 1>very construction of our highway system. And Justice said switching

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<v Speaker 1>from diesel powered school buses to electric could avoid an

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<v Speaker 1>average a five point three million tons of greenhouse gas

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<v Speaker 1>emissions each year and over seven hundred thousand pounds that's

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred thousand kilos of ep A criteria pollutants admitted

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<v Speaker 1>near children. So can it be done? Advocates believe it

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<v Speaker 1>can be, but they say much more money needs to

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<v Speaker 1>be allocated to the issue, and that the infrastructure bill

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<v Speaker 1>is definitely not enough on its own. And it's not

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<v Speaker 1>just about money. There also need to be plans in

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<v Speaker 1>place to help school districts through the transition to electric buses,

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<v Speaker 1>and Justice said the critical piece that any successful plan

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<v Speaker 1>must include is an avenue for school districts to receive

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<v Speaker 1>technical assistance. While most school buses are still diesel powered,

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<v Speaker 1>some districts have been adding electric buses to their fleets.

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<v Speaker 1>In Maryland, for example, the Montgomery County Public School System

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<v Speaker 1>has plans to get three hundred and twenty six electric

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<v Speaker 1>school buses over the next four years. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>largest commitment by any single school district today. Thirty three

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<v Speaker 1>states have electric school buses announced, procured, delivered, or in operation. However,

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<v Speaker 1>as previously mentioned, the is inequality baked into the system,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's just as true for which areas will get

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<v Speaker 1>more electric school buses more quickly. Already, the largest share

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<v Speaker 1>thirty percent of school districts with at least one electric

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<v Speaker 1>school bus, are in suburban areas, which tend to be wealthier.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, about sixty of all committed future electric buses

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<v Speaker 1>are in suburban areas, versus just percent in cities, seven

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<v Speaker 1>percent in towns, and six percent in rural areas. Along

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<v Speaker 1>with the infrastructure bill, there are numerous other programs and

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<v Speaker 1>political initiatives to electrify the nation's school buses. In February

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<v Speaker 1>of this year, the Clean school Bus Act was reintroduced

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<v Speaker 1>in the US Senate and the House of Representatives. This

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<v Speaker 1>act would establish a Clean school Bus Grant program to

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<v Speaker 1>award grants to replace existing school buses with electric ones. However,

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<v Speaker 1>as of now, the bill is stalled in subcommittee. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>the Federal Transit Authorities Low or No Emission Vehicle Program

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<v Speaker 1>allocates roughly two million dollars in funding for low and

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<v Speaker 1>no emissions buses and the facilities that support them. Its

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<v Speaker 1>goal is to support the Infrastructure Bill to reduce greenhouse

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<v Speaker 1>gas emissions by by the end of the decade. And

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<v Speaker 1>speaking of funding, electric school buses do cost more than

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<v Speaker 1>diesel powered, but they can lead to long term savings

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<v Speaker 1>for school districts who purchase them. For several reasons, electricity

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<v Speaker 1>is typically less expensive than diesel fuel, and as said above,

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<v Speaker 1>electric buses require less maintenance. Plus, if the districts equip

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<v Speaker 1>their schools with vehicle to grid technology, they can both

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<v Speaker 1>draw energy from and return it to the electrical grid.

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<v Speaker 1>A While Justice and other clean transportation advocates are pleased

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<v Speaker 1>to the Infrastructure Bill and local governments are addressing this problem,

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<v Speaker 1>they know that there's still a long way to go

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to electrifying school buses in the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article why you want

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<v Speaker 1>your kids school bus to be Electric on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot com, written by Stephanie Parker. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clay. Four more

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