Environmental Impact: School Buses

No one can, or should, discount the vital service the nation’s school buses provide.

Unfortunately, the majority of our school buses have a significant flaw — they expel tons of toxins into the air. Most school buses run on diesel fuel, which releases harmful substances, including hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and other hazardous air pollutants into the air. Furthermore, research has shown that children who ride diesel school buses experience more pulmonary illnesses. Add to that inefficient routing that puts buses on the roads longer than necessary and the lack of green practices in school bus maintenance facilities, and the school bus industry’s carbon footprint takes on gigantic proportions.

It’s time to make school buses environmentally friendly, and better for our children, by making the practices outlined below standard for every school district and bus fleet.

Alternative Fuel School Buses

School districts are slowly transitioning to safer fuels for their school bus fleets. While 95% of the nation’s school buses still run on diesel, 40% of those buses use clean diesel fuel; and clean diesel fuel eliminates most nitrogen oxides and particulates.

School districts are also gradually giving alternative fuel school buses a try. A School Bus Fleet survey showed that 16% of buses sold in 2017 used gasoline; 6%, propane; and less than 1% electric.

The positive effects of these alternative fuel school buses on the environment are significant. When five school districts replaced 110 diesel buses with propane buses, 770 tons of greenhouse gases were eliminated annually, according to the report “Miles to Go” by Bellwether Education Partners.

Re-routing the School Bus Industry

Another way to reduce school bus emissions is to streamline school bus routes. Today, school buses travel long distances to transport students to their schools. Students attend schools miles from their homes or in another school district, students with special needs attend programs based at schools outside their neighborhood, and homeless and foster students are transported to their home school regardless of where they live. Adding to this complexity is the fact that school bus routes are often based on eligible rather than actual ridership.

Long, inefficient routes mean students spend more time on emission-spewing school buses, and those same buses discharge carbons and other toxins every minute they are on the road. Their carbon footprint is then compounded by all the vehicles caught behind the buses.

The answer to the problem could be technology. By analyzing data, routing technology can calculate the most efficient routes for an entire school district by combining stops, deleting unnecessary routes, and eliminating or significantly reducing idling (deadhead) time.

Technology also gives school bus fleet managers the tools to review data to see if their buses are filled to capacity and where routes should be altered.

Make Conservation a Priority

There are several ways school bus fleets can be greener and save money at the same time. For example, placing different tires on rear-end and front-end buses, which have different weights and stresses, can extend their life. Another strategy is to analyze school bus oil to determine when it should be changed rather than changing it every 3,000 miles.

Recycling shouldn’t be overlooked, either. School bus tires, fluids, batteries, oil filters, antifreeze, and other disposable materials can all be recycled.

And, school bus fleet facilities can be made environmentally friendly by installing motion-sensors, LED lighting, energy management air conditioning, compressed natural gas heating, and air filters.

One of the biggest deterrents to making the school bus industry green is the cost. However, there are programs to offset the expense. For example, the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2010 provides grants to replace aging vehicles, and Volkswagen settlement funds and social impact bonds may be a source of funding for alternative fuel buses as well.

School districts also find that new routing technology, recycling, and energy-saving measures pay for themselves.

Regardless of the cost, reducing the school bus industry’s carbon footprint is the right thing to do — for the environment and for the children who ride the buses.