Electric School Buses:
Why Electric School Buses?
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Reduced emissions & health risks:
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Zero emission vehicle with 70% renewable RG&E electricity vs. COx, NOx & particulate emissions.
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Safety, maintenance and fuel-cost advantages:
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Low risk of roll-overs due to low center of gravity (batteries along bottom of bus).
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Greatly reduced number of moving parts (~20 compared to 2000+ for internal combustion engines).
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50% reduction in fuel cost with current 70% renewable energy RG&E electric grid.
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Provide mobile emergency energy source for resiliency hubs:
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Electric school buses can provide emergency power for a school or recreation center during a grid outage.
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Critical timeline for greenhouse gas emissions reduction:
- Narrowing window to avert the worst of the future climate crises (IPCC).
How to Adopt Electric School Buses:
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State and Federal funding sources:
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Utility programs and investments:
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Federal and State incentives for electric utilities to help sponsor the transition to electric school buses.
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Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) energy cost savings.
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Pay-As-You-Save programs.
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Revenue-neutral options:
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Guarantee zero increase in transportation costs.
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Assume interface with RG&E for charging infrastructure development.
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Absorb risk (infrastructure & maintenance costs).
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Brand agnostic.
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Manufacturers and incentives
Articles and Press Releases:
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(24-Feb-2021) Washington Post: Montgomery, MD: Committed to transition 1,422 buses to EV by 2035
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(25-Feb-2021) Green Tech Media: Highland Electric Lands Biggest Electric School Bus Contract in the US
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(05-Nov-2020) NY Times: Beverly, MA first EVSB - using VW settlement funds
Resources:
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Live Green Network: AFLEET Tool and Users Guide
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(2021) Live Green Network, Multi-State Electric School Bus Boot Camp Webinar Series:
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Session 1 (access code: n^L9=%nh): Beverly, MA Case Study
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Session 2 (access code: 9Re=WCZ): Hear from Industry Leaders
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Session 3 (access code: %#*3sz56): Highland Electric Transportation
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(2021) U.S. PIRG & Environment America (15 p): Accelerating the Transition to Electric School Buses
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(2021) New York League of Conservation Voters: Electric School Bus Programs
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(2020) New York League of Conservation Voters: Clean Bus Guide & VW Settlement
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(2020) NYS Clean Cities Coalition (46 p): Funding the Transition to an Electric School Bus Fleet
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(2018) New York League of Conservation Voters (39 p): Whitepaper on Electrifying New York's School Buses
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(2018) U.S. PIRG (30 p): Paying for Electric Buses



