Electric school buses the only option for kids' health

Thousands of students across New York now are riding to school on clean, quiet electric school buses, setting them up for success in the classroom.

New York is providing financial and technical support with funding available through the New York School Bus Incentive Program. Now is the time for all districts across the Empire State to go electric.

Most school buses in New York still run on diesel fuel — but we know that exhaust from them is unsafe. It’s linked to serious physical health issues like asthma and cancer, and brain development problems, putting students’ health and academic achievement at risk. Diesel is just too dangerous for our children and communities.

Zero-tailpipe-emission electric school buses are ready to meet the moment. Electric school buses are now on the road in several Long Island communities, with 11 in the Bay Shore district, two operated by Suffolk Transportation Service in Suffolk County, and one in Copiague. Five more districts have committed to bringing them into their fleets — Connetquot, Jericho, Kings Park, North Shore and Westbury — in addition to Nassau BOCES. Across the state, 229 electric school buses are in operation or delivered, with 825 more on the way. Current models have ranges of 100-300 miles.

Long Island stands to see over $28 million every year in health and climate benefits from cleaner air and reduced pollution by using electric school buses rather than diesel-burning ones, new data from World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative shows.

These efforts to cut pollution benefit us all, but they’re especially important for those who face higher rates of air pollution. Nationally, people of color have disproportionately higher exposure to on-road air pollution. Black students, children with disabilities and low-income students all rely on diesel-burning school buses more than others. So it’s no surprise that asthma rates are worse in communities of color, who often are affected by multiple forms of pollution.

While they’re better for our health and our environment, electric school buses can help school budgets too. Research shows that an electric school bus can cost around $100,000 less to operate over its lifetime. When combined with upfront funding available through state and federal programs, the total cost to own an electric school bus can actually be significantly lower than for diesel. As competition and technological advances drive the upfront purchase price of ESBs down over time, the unsubsidized total cost of owning an ESB is also expected to be lower than the total cost of owning a diesel-burning school bus.

New York is leading the way on investing in this transition. The state’s incentive program provides a total of $600 million in funding to support districts’ electrification efforts — including the cost of installing charging infrastructure.

The federal government has also allocated billions of dollars for electric school buses and accompanying charging infrastructure through the Clean School Bus Program and the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program, with $2 billion in CSBP funding yet to be awarded. This unprecedented level of funding provides additional valuable support for New York’s requirement for all fleets to be fully zero-emission by 2035. All school bus purchases after 2027 must be zero-emission, though districts can apply for extensions if necessary.

Our school districts, state leaders, students and advocates are making it clear: The electric school bus moment has arrived in New York. Now is the time for districts to take advantage of available resources and ensure that our kids have the safe, reliable ride to school that they deserve.

This guest essay reflects the views of Jessica Varghese, PhD, a registered nurse and tenured associate professor of nursing at New York Institute of Technology, and an advocacy partner of WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative.