Next stop, access! An exploratory paper on disability rights and justice throughout the transition to electric school buses

The paper examines the barriers faced by students with disabilities during the transition to electric school buses in the US. It highlights systemic failures in current transportation, such as broken wheelchair lifts and the segregation of disabled students onto separate buses. The authors argue for the application of Disability Justice and Environmental Justice frameworks to ensure that the transition prioritizes marginalized communities and incorporates Universal Design. Key recommendations include involving disabled youth in decision-making, improving infrastructure like sidewalks, and ensuring that electric buses are more accessible than the gas-powered vehicles they replace.

• Current school transportation programs frequently fail to meet accessibility standards and legal requirements, with common issues including malfunctioning wheelchair lifts and ramps, untrained staff, and a lack of adherence to disability laws.
• Students with disabilities, particularly those of color, often experience longer bus rides than their non-disabled peers, leading to increased exposure to harmful diesel exhaust and negative health impacts such as asthma.
• The transition to electric school buses presents specific safety risks for students with visual impairments because electric vehicles are significantly quieter than gas buses, making them harder to detect.
• Infrastructure gaps outside the bus, such as broken sidewalks, missing curb cuts, and unpaved roads in rural or Tribal areas, create significant barriers that prevent disabled students from reaching transportation.
• There is a risk that low-resourced communities and students of color will be the last to receive electric buses or will be forced to accept older, polluting gas buses due to high initial costs and lack of charging infrastructure.
• The materials used in electric bus batteries are often sourced from Indigenous lands, raising concerns about environmental justice and the need for free, prior, and informed consent from these communities.
• Electric school buses could improve working conditions for drivers by providing a smoother ride, potentially reducing high rates of back injuries and helping to mitigate staffing shortages.
• Disabled students are often segregated into separate 'special education' buses, and there is a strong call from youth participants for inclusive designs that allow them to ride with non-disabled peers.
• Transportation failures, including late arrivals or missing buses, directly negatively impact the education of disabled students, who may be punished for tardiness caused by these systemic failures.

APA

Shorter, J., Novack, V., & Curran, A. (2024). Next stop, access! An exploratory paper on disability rights and justice throughout the transition to electric school buses. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/disability-rights-justice-transition-electric-school-buses-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=tyWJ1VQe17WQ3YWmdMLlUuhmGhxmQEjV

Chicago

Shorter, Justice, Valerie Novack, and Alyssa Curran. Next stop, access! An exploratory paper on disability rights and justice throughout the transition to electric school buses. World Resources Institute, 2024. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/disability-rights-justice-transition-electric-school-buses-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=tyWJ1VQe17WQ3YWmdMLlUuhmGhxmQEjV.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shorter |first1=Justice |last2=Novack |first2=Valerie |last3=Curran |first3=Alyssa |title=Next stop, access! An exploratory paper on disability rights and justice throughout the transition to electric school buses |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=July 2024 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/disability-rights-justice-transition-electric-school-buses-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=tyWJ1VQe17WQ3YWmdMLlUuhmGhxmQEjV |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shorter2024next, author = {Shorter, Justice and Novack, Valerie and Curran, Alyssa}, title = {{Next stop, access! An exploratory paper on disability rights and justice throughout the transition to electric school buses}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2024-11/disability-rights-justice-transition-electric-school-buses-plain-language.pdf?VersionId=tyWJ1VQe17WQ3YWmdMLlUuhmGhxmQEjV}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }