Electric School Buses are Coming to Florida Districts

Twice a day school buses flood campuses, neighborhoods and roadways in our communities with truly disgusting and harmful diesel emissions. Polluting the air that little lungs breathe and sending out some of the dirtiest vehicle-produced greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. The federal Clean School Bus Program is designed to give school districts across the country the opportunity to apply for funding for clean buses and the charging stations to support them. This funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is set to provide $5 billion in funding over five years.

Environment Florida recently co-hosted a webinar with Highland Fleets to answer questions and help school districts apply for these federal funds. And we are happy to see the EPA awarded 4 Florida school districts with electric buses. These districts are Hillsborough, Seminole, Orange, and Miami-Dade. Also, Highland Fleets was awarded $30M to implement 97 electric buses across the southeast and according to preliminary numbers on this map three north Florida school districts will receive buses as part of those funds.

Switching away from dirty diesel buses should be a priority for our schools. It will immediately benefit the health of students and staff, and remove toxic greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. We congratulate the school districts receiving awards and encourage others to apply for the next round of funding. You can currently apply for the 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program until January 31st. Deadlines for the new round of 2024 funding are expected to be announced soon.