Biden celebrates first $1 billion for electric school buses, but bus drivers aren’t cheering

The Biden administration on Wednesday identified school districts that will receive nearly $1 billion over the next year to purchase new zero-emission school buses and charging stations.

The money will go to nearly 400 school districts across 50 states, the District of Columbia and several Tribes and U.S. territories to purchase more than 2,400 clean buses, 95% of which will run on electricity. The others will operate on compressed natural gas or propane.

The funds are part of a five-year, $5 billion Clean School Bus Program created by last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law.

The administration says the initiative will bear the brunt of the cost for school districts to slash their emissions, but school bus operators are pumping the brakes on the notion they’ll be able to completely kick diesel-powered buses to the curb anytime soon.

They warned that there are a host of obstacles to overcome.

“It’s not that we can’t get there, but there are some hurdles in front of us for sure,” said Curt Macysyn, executive director of the National School Transportation Association that represents private bus contractors. “With this, there’s a whole planning aspect that’s involved with the charging infrastructure and making sure that your bus depot is capable of handling the power load to get these buses charged.”