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A Western New York school continues to accelerate its purchasing of electric buses and charging stations.
On Monday, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's office announced the Lake Shore Central (Evans-Brant) School District is the recipient of a $7.9 million grant for 20 electric school buses and charging stations.
The nearly $8 million grant will help phase out old buses in the fleet and enable the school district to purchase 20 clean school buses and 20 bus chargers. Lake Shore transports more than 2,000 students to 13 public, private and special needs locations throughout Western New York each school day. Currently, Lake Shore has 54 school buses, which means this latest grant boosts the number of zero-emission school buses in the fleet to nearly 50 percent.
Schumer said Lake Shore was one of only 67 applicants in the country to be selected as part of this round of the EPA's Clean School Bus Program's Grant Competition. He noted that diesel exhaust from old fossil fuel powered buses is a major contributor to air quality problems in many communities and has been linked to poor health and asthma, especially for children, whose lungs are not yet fully developed.
"I led the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law to passage so communities across the state will have the federal funding needed to combat climate change, and now, for the second year in a row, this major investment will set the wheels in motion to put new electric school buses on New York's roads, curbing carbon emissions, decreasing pollution, and improving the air quality for students across America. I am proud to deliver this tremendous environmental justice investment that will carry our students to a brighter future, emissions free," said Sen. Schumer.
The EPA Clean School Bus Program is part of the State's goal to reduce carbon emissions 85% by 2050.That goal includes requiring all school buses purchased by 2027 to be zero-emission buses, with school districts' entire fleets to be transitioned to zero emission by 2035.
Lake Shore was an early migrator to zero emissions vehicles, previously receiving grants which helped it put Western New York's first zero-emissions school bus on the road two years ago, and as well as a second zero-emissions school bus in 2023.
In preparation for the State's impending carbon emission reduction mandates, Lake Shore has been working to incorporate the infrastructure necessary for a zero-emissions fleet. Through its voter-approved Capital Project, the District:
-- Is working with its electric utility provider, National Grid, to deliver the required electricity to its bus parking lot through a new electric service from North Main Street in the Village of Angola, with National Grid installing the necessary transformer on site. -more-
-- Is working with its architects and engineers - Young + Wright Architects and Buffalo Engineering - to plan, develop and install 20 Level 2 charging stations in its current bus parking lot. While this lot is being updated, the necessary charging stations will be installed in an unpaved section of property that abuts the parking lot. This will minimize the installation costs of the charging stations.
"These grants represent a very, very long road in the making," said Lake Shore Schools' Transportation Supervisor Perry Oddi. "The most important thing is that we now have a growing fleet of zero-emission vehicles - not low emission, but zero emission - available for our school-community. By eliminating diesel exhaust emissions, we reduce air pollution and ground level ozone, as well as air quality-related illnesses and asthma. As we decrease our carbon footprint, we're helping to preserve the health and safety of our students and staff."
"By eliminating diesel fuel emissions, electric buses provide public and environmental health benefits, and they offer school districts operational savings," said Lake Shore Schools' Superintendent Dan Pacos. "While the upfront cost of an electric school bus is higher than a diesel, the electric buses cut fuel and maintenance costs in half over the vehicle's lifetime." He said with each electric bus, Lake Shore anticipates saving $15,000 annually in fuel and maintenance costs.
"We credit Sen. Schumer with making it possible for Lake Shore to make these advances in carbon emission reduction," continued Pacos. "He led the bipartisan infrastructure law to passage, and that brought millions of dollars in federal funds to help upstate school districts purchase new electric buses through the EPA's Clean School Bus Program. His efforts in making the cleanest technologies more affordable and available to our school districts brings us new school buses, and a healthier environment for our children and communities."