CINCINNATI, Ohio – First Student, the largest operator of electric school buses in North America, applauds the Biden-Harris Administration for making available an additional $500 million in grants for electric school buses. The announcement, made today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is the latest tranche of resources from the bipartisan federal infrastructure law. In response, First Student’s Head of Electrification Kevin Matthews issued the following statement:
“EPA’s resources will deliver opportunity to school districts across the country to move to cleaner, safer and quieter school buses to transport students. Electric school bus transportation can provide better learning experiences and healthier futures for children across the country. Replacing just one diesel school bus with an electric school bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year, improving health outcomes for children and communities.
“First Student is proud to lead the way on school bus electrification. We are committed to transition 30,000 of our diesel buses to electric by 2035. We look forward to working with the communities we currently serve as well as other school districts to apply for this new U.S. EPA funding, helping accelerate the transition to electric and creating a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our student passengers.”
Those with questions about how electric school buses could work in their district and can benefit their students and community, email First Student at electrification@firststudentinc.com.
About First Student:
As a leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. With a team of highly trained drivers and the industry’s strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, fleet electrification, route optimization, and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of more than 46,000 buses.
