Electric School Buses

As of June 2024, the U.S. has 12,174 committed electric school buses, representing a 19-fold increase since June 2019. While these vehicles currently make up only about 3% of the national fleet, over 234,000 students now ride them, with the highest adoption rates in the West and South regions. The transition is largely driven by the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, which provides $5 billion from 2022 to 2026 to reduce the 8.4 million metric tons of carbon pollution emitted annually by school bus fleets and mitigate health risks associated with diesel exhaust.

• The number of committed electric school buses in the U.S. reached 12,174 by June 2024, which is a 19-fold increase from June 2019 and a five-fold increase since the signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November 2021. These buses currently represent approximately 3% of the total national fleet of nearly 500,000 buses.
• Regional adoption is concentrated in the West and South, which together account for 64% of all committed electric school buses. The South has the highest number of students riding these buses at 102,000 (43% of the national total), followed by the West with 80,781 students.
• California is the leader in adoption with 3,110 committed buses and 67,462 students riding them, which is more than four times the number of buses in the next leading state, New York (764 buses).
• The transition to electric buses addresses significant health and environmental harms; diesel school bus fleets emit an estimated 8.4 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually and produce over 40 toxic air contaminants. Electric buses offer an estimated $100,000 in lifetime fuel and maintenance savings per vehicle compared to diesel equivalents.
• The EPA's Clean School Bus Program is a primary driver of the transition, providing $5 billion between FY 2022 and 2026. This program has funded over two-thirds of all committed electric school buses in the U.S. and prioritizes historically underserved school districts to address environmental justice.

APA

Adar, S., & Zepka, B. (2024). Electric School Buses. Climate Central. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/electric-school-buses

Chicago

Adar, Sara, and Brian Zepka. Electric School Buses. Climate Central, 2024. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/electric-school-buses.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Adar |first1=Sara |last2=Zepka |first2=Brian |title=Electric School Buses |publisher=Climate Central |date=9 October 2024 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/electric-school-buses |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{adar2024electric, author = {Adar, Sara and Zepka, Brian}, title = {{Electric School Buses}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/electric-school-buses}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }