Next stop, access!

The 'Next Stop, Access! Before You Read' toolkit defines key terms and frameworks used in a research paper on the transition to electric school buses. It explains 'disability justice' and 'environmental justice' as lenses to focus on communities most impacted by climate change. The document details the types of school buses (A, B, C, and D), the concept of universal design, and the legal protections for people with disabilities in the US, such as the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and IDEA. It also introduces 'intersectionality' to describe how overlapping identities, such as race and disability, affect a person's experiences and access to resources.

• The World Resources Institute's Electric School Bus Initiative aims for all school buses in the United States to transition from gas to electric by 2030 to improve health and lower operating costs.
• Disability justice is a movement led by people experiencing various levels of oppression, emphasizing accessibility, the autonomy of people with disabilities, and interdependence.
• Environmental justice focuses on the impact of the environment on the health of diverse communities and seeks to eliminate discrimination in environmental, economic, political, and social situations.
• Three primary US national laws provide protections for people with disabilities: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for public place accessibility, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for federal program accessibility, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for free public education and support services.
• Intersectionality, a term created by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, describes how multiple identities (such as race, gender, and disability) combine to shape a person's opportunities and experiences with discrimination.
• School buses are categorized into four types: Type A (smallest, often used for special education), Type B (no longer produced), Type C (the most common 'classic' style), and Type D (the largest, often used for field trips). All available electric models for Types A, C, and D can include wheelchair lifts.
• Universal design involves creating products, such as school buses with wheelchair ramps and dedicated spaces, that are accessible to everyone regardless of disability status to promote independence and equal access.

APA

World Resources Institute (2024). Next stop, access! https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/before-you-read-next-stop-access-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=DNAyyzUThHhQOb0Kpj8NwWc_Wt_6Osfs

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Next stop, access! 2024. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/before-you-read-next-stop-access-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=DNAyyzUThHhQOb0Kpj8NwWc_Wt_6Osfs.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Next stop, access! |date=2024 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/before-you-read-next-stop-access-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=DNAyyzUThHhQOb0Kpj8NwWc_Wt_6Osfs |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2024next, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Next stop, access!}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/before-you-read-next-stop-access-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=DNAyyzUThHhQOb0Kpj8NwWc_Wt_6Osfs}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }