Electrifying School Buses in the Bronx

NYLCV is applying to NYSERDA’s Clean Transportation Prize to continue our work on electrifying school buses. We are working with NYCSBUS, a nonprofit that owns 10% of the buses in NYC, to help deploy and scale electric bus fleets in the City. The goal is to create the first (of hopefully many!) depots in the City to work with ESBs and help lower transportation emissions.

Summary

In particular, this project aims to transform a bus depot in the Bronx into an electric school bus center for the community. It will do this by deploying a fleet of 30 green buses to reduce emissions, installing charging infrastructure that connects to the grid, and training bus drivers, technicians, and students on this technology. 

Benefits

We would like to see this project bring zero-emission school bus rides for children, clean up the air in Bronx communities, and accelerate workforce training in clean technology.

• Children riding NYC’s diesel and gasoline school buses breathe toxic pollutants that are detrimental to their lung development, school performance, and overall health. Diesel emissions from buses expose kids to exhaust 23-46x higher than levels needed for significant cancer risk, and aggravate asthma in children, which leads to more school absences. 
• Zerega Avenue in the Bronx is NYC’s commercial vehicle and bus district with heavy traffic, surrounding highways, and poor air quality. 
• Electric school buses will help eliminate diesel exhaust emissions and produce significantly lower GHG emissions than other buses, which improves the air quality in our communities. 
• Creating an electric school bus hub will also allow for the Bronx to be a leader in this space. Through creating physical training centers, establishing curricula, and engaging in workforce recruitment activities, this project will bring the benefits of clean job investments to the community members of the Bronx.

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For further information about electric school buses check out our NYC Clean School Bus Coalition, our Interactive NYC Bus Depot Map and our Clean Bus Guide!