Electric school buses finally make headway, but hurdles still stand

By ALEXA ST. JOHN
Associated Press

Fewer than 1% of the nearly half million school buses on the roads in the U.S. ran on electricity as of the end of 2023, even though this kind of clean bus has been available for years. Now, in a sign things may finally be changing, the number of electric buses operating or on order has doubled and there’s an initiative to elecify all school buses by 2030. They will replace diesel-burning buses, which emit exhaust that is particularly harmful for chidlren. Funding is now arriving for some districts in need, helping them meet the additional upfront cost of the clean buses. But schools are still up against a variety of challenges to make the switch to electric.