MACON, Ga. – Blue Bird Corporation (Nasdaq: BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, is supplying 20 electric school buses to Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) in Florida, the first zero-emission vehicles in the districts’ all Blue Bird fleet of school buses.
M-DCPS is the third-largest school district in the nation with more than 335,000 students and 50,000 adult learners. The milestone delivery represents a crucial step by the school district to shift to clean student transportation and to lower harmful greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change.
Blue Bird will provide its state-of-the-art Vision electric school buses to M-DCPS. Each vehicle can carry 72 students for up to 120 miles on a single charge. M-DCPS plans to team up with Florida Power & Light, the largest power utility in the state, to install 50 DC fast charging stations. Ten charging stations at the school district’s Southwest Transportation Facility should be operational by September 2023. Based on M-DCPS’ future charging infrastructure, the buses will take approximately six hours to recharge fully.
M-DCPS maintains an all Blue Bird bus fleet of nearly 1,000 vehicles. M-DCPS school buses travel more than 13,000 miles each school day, as they pick up and safely transport 40,000 students to and from schools.
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is excited to put its first 20 electric, zero-emission school buses into service signaling that we put our student and community health first,” said M-DCPS Superintendent Dr. Jose L. Dotres. “We are looking forward to a successful pilot program and to building on our decades-long relationship with Blue Bird, the district’s student transportation provider of choice.”
M-DCPS received a $11.6 million grant from Florida’s Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement Trust fund to acquire Blue Bird’s advanced electric, zero-emission school buses.
“This pilot program is a wonderful first step in the electrification of Miami-Dade’s fleet and improving the air quality for its students and the community at-large,” said Britton Smith, president of Blue Bird Corporation. “As the leader in zero- and low-emission school buses, we could not be more pleased to help a long-term and highly valued customer transition to electric buses and clean student transportation. We greatly appreciate the trust Miami-Dade County Public Schools has placed in Blue Bird and are looking forward to growing our relationship for many years to come.”
Blue Bird is the only U.S.-owned and operated school bus manufacturer in the United States. The company remains the proven clean transportation leader with nearly 1,000 electric-powered, zero-emission school buses in operation today. M-DCPS purchased its advanced electric vehicles through Blue Bird’s authorized and family-owned school bus dealer Florida Transportation Systems, Inc. in Tampa, Florida.
About Blue Bird Corporation
Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability. Blue Bird buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – the majority of 25 million children twice a day – making us the most trusted brand in the industry. The company is the proven leader in low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 20,000 propane, natural gas, and electric powered buses in operation today. Blue Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird’s complete product and service portfolio, visit www.blue-bird.com.
About Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), an A-rated district, is the nation’s third largest school system with nearly 500 schools and a diverse enrollment of more than 335,500 students from over 160 countries. Our ongoing tradition of groundbreaking achievement has earned top recognition at the national and international levels and makes M-DCPS your best choice. For more information on M-DCPS visit www.dadeschools.net.
