b'thinking about what school buses you will need to re- It may be in a school districts best interest to purchase place in a couple of years? at least one electric bus, which would allow it to better BNEF also predicts that the adoption rate for electricprepare for this rapid technology shift.buses will be even faster than cars. EVs are already cheaper on repairs. Experience fromAddressing Driver Shortagesschool districts with electric buses shows that mainte- Drivers are in short supply. And its not just school nance costs are can be as much as 80-percent lower ondistricts that have this challenge. Its also the long- and EV buses. And fuel costs are similarly lower. short-haul trucking industry:Its a hot economy thats pulling away the work force Significant Subsidies for Electric Buses Vary by State from driving jobs. School districts also have to compete As part of its settlement for cheating on emission testswith trucking companies that can pay higher wages.for its diesel cars, Volkswagen set up an EnvironmentalWe are on the cusp of a revolution in autonomous ve-Mitigation Trust to provide U.S. states with $2.9 billionhicles. Tesla has announced that the Tesla semi will have for projects to cut nitrogen oxide from large vehicles,autonomous features. Then, as fully autonomous long-including school buses. haul trucks become available within the next decade, States have the freedom to determine how to allocateit will relieve the long-haul driver shortage. This will in these funds. For example, one transportation director,turn have a cascading impact that could presumably Tim Shannon in northern California, stated that he wasalleviate the school bus driver shortage.able to buy four electric school buses for the same priceHowever, school buses will be the last category of as two diesel buses because of the program. And accord- transportation to be automated. And even when that ing to his calculations, the payback for electric buseshappens, we will still need an adult on the bus to ensure (unsubsidized) is only eight years. the safety of children. Think for a second how the tradi-In fact, BNEF predicts that the rate of adoption oftional job description of a school bus driver will change, electric buses is going to be even faster than the rate ofand how the job might evolve with a focus more on the adoption of electric cars: education of students, as well as providing safety.ALTERNATIVE STUDENTTRANSPORTATION IS STILL STUDENTTRANSPORTATIONALC Schools proprietary technology Our Driver App is a includes our Driver App and My Ridefull-fledged student Manager (MRM) which combine to createtransportation tracking solution, not ana detailed student transportation profileoff-the-shelf vehicle of past, current and future trips. tracking device. Johnny SmithWhile both of these platforms support our MRM provides districts district partners, it is our 24/7 dispatchwith the same real-time centers, routing, and field operationstrip status as ALCs teams that make the magic happen. dispatch team.866-999-3371| www.ALCSchools.com www.stnonline.com35'