Electric buses are coming to Flowing Wells and Tucson unified school districts, thanks in large part to a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Flowing Wells will get one new electric bus while TUSD will receive 10.
RWC Group, a transportation outfit serving dozens of school districts in Arizona, was the lead applicant for the Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition. It applied on behalf of 11 Arizona school districts, prioritizing Title I schools, said Tom Hartman, who leads RCM Group’s busing division.
Schools serving a significant number of students from low-income families receive the federal Title I designation.
The grant, totaling nearly $16.5 million, awarded funds for 44 electric school buses to the 11 Arizona school districts.
The grant funds don’t pay for each bus entirely, Hartman explained, but help “bridge the gap” to make having the energy-efficient buses part of the districts’ fleets. Tucson Electric Power will also be involved in seeing the project through, he said.
RWC Group will continue to support the school districts as the project moves forward, Hartman said.
“The bus is very important, but we work with the school districts, we hold their hands. I would say that we are speaking to them about charging infrastructure, and less about the bus.”
Hartman said the average bus route is 50 miles in the morning and 50 miles at night. An overnight charge will keep the buses selected going for anywhere from 130 to 300 miles, depending on the model, he said.
“The goal of the program is to remove pollution from the air/community,” he added. “Therefore, the school has to remove ten 2010 or older diesel buses from the road. RWC Group will help to decommission those buses.”
In Flowing Wells’ case, it would have to decommission one bus minted in 2010 or earlier.
Flowing Wells Unified School District Superintendent Kevin Stoltzfus said details are still early in the discussion stage.
“We are excited about the possibility,” he said.
TUSD officials said in a written statement: “Tucson Unified School District is excited to receive the Clean School Bus Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to purchase electric and low-emission school buses. We are working in partnership with Tucson Electric Power (TEP) to finalize the logistics and move forward with the program. This is an amazing opportunity that will benefit our district, students, families, and the Tucson community.”
Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition is part of the Investing in America agenda. According to an EPA news release, the grant funding “will help selectees purchase over 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts serving over 7 million students across 37 states.”
RWC Group was awarded all of its grant requests in this round. The other Arizona school districts included in RWC’s efforts include districts in the Phoenix, Casa Grande, Coolidge and Flagstaff areas.
The Clean School Bus Program, offering $5 billion to qualifying programs nationwide, funds clean school buses. Those include electric buses, compressed natural gas and propane buses, which produce zero tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors. The program requires that at least half of the funding go toward zero-emitting school buses.
RWC Group will purchase buses from International Corp., Greenpower Motor Co. and Collins Bus Corp., Hartman said.
As more school districts purchase electric school buses, some have questioned their ability to operate in extremely cold weather. A school district in Tok, Alaska put their new electric school bus to the test.
