Electrifying Student Transportation
Washington’s school districts are facing a game-changing opportunity to add electric school buses (ESBs) to their fleets. The Green Transportation Program (GTP) offers resources and guidance to help districts decide if this is the right time to pursue available funding.
Why electrify?
Health and environmental benefits of replacing diesel-fueled school buses with ESBs are clear. Diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen, is linked to serious physical health issues and cognitive development impacts. Students in some neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to the dangers of diesel exhaust pollution. Electrifying school bus fleets can help address these health and environmental concern. Studies on health impacts from fossil-fueled buses are included in Webcasts and Case Studies.
The 2024 Clean School Bus Rebate Program prioritizes applications that will replace buses serving high-need local education agencies, rural areas, Tribal school districts funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and public school districts receiving basic support payments for students living on Tribal land. To see if your school district qualifies, check out this interactive EPA priorities map for Washington school districts.
Get funding
We provide details about funding opportunities and incentives to support ESB and charging equipment purchases in Funding Opportunities.
Questions? GTP can help!
We invite school districts to contact us at greentransportation@energy.wsu.edu to discuss projects and challenges specific to your district. In our flyer Successful Deployment of Electric School Buses, we describe the types of questions we can answer for you, including:
- Calculating charging needs and determining where to install EV charging stations.
- Which bus routes to electrify first.
- ESB models that could work well for your district.
- Working with your electric utility to assess electrical capacity and install charging equipment.
What do you want to learn about?