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Bezos Earth Foundation

Electrifying Every School Bus

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Electrifying Every School Bus

By Catherine Zuckerman

Bright yellow has been synonymous with school buses for decades. The color was chosen in 1939 for safety, as well as uniformity, and has been standard ever since. But when it comes to imagining the future of these iconic vehicles? For that, think green.

Across the United States, roughly 480,000 buses transport some 20 million students to and from school every day. The vast majority of these run on diesel fuel, which impacts air quality, climate change, and human health.

Kids are especially vulnerable to air pollution because their bodies are still developing. Diesel fumes have proven links to serious physiological issues, including asthma, which is a leading cause of absenteeism, as well as negative cognitive health impacts, like lower test scores.

These issues disproportionately affect low-income students, students from Black households, and children with disabilities — all of whom are more likely to ride the bus to school, and thus be exposed to harmful air pollution, than their peers.

This is why the Bezos Earth Fund, in partnership with World Resources Institute (WRI), is supporting school districts, community organizations, utilities, manufacturers, and policymakers to build unstoppable momentum toward electrifying the nation's entire fleet of school buses.

“The Bezos Earth Fund is committed to the equitable transition to electric school buses nationwide,” says Kelly Levin, the Earth Fund’s Chief of Science, Data, and Systems Change, “and we support a future in which all young people, starting with those most impacted by the harms of diesel pollution, enjoy electric, healthy rides to school.”

Centering equity, reducing emissions

The Electric School Bus Initiative is designed to advance an equity-centered approach to getting more electric buses into school districts and to accelerate scaling manufacturing, charging infrastructure, funding, and financing.

In addition to improving children’s health, school bus electrification is also crucial to advancing the overall decarbonization of heavy industry. Electric buses, which run on battery power and have no internal combustion engine, generate less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of their diesel- and propane-burning counterparts, depending upon the electricity generation mix.

“The Earth Fund has been a crucial partner in WRI’s mission to equitably electrify the entire U.S. school bus fleet, supporting partnerships on the ground with organizations working nationally and on a state and local level,” says Sue Gander, Director of WRI’s School Bus Initiative.

There are nearly 5,000 electric school buses out on the road today — about one percent of the country’s total fleet serving some 250,000 students. While still small, the market is growing rapidly. From the start of 2021 to August 2024, the number of electric school buses on the road or on the way has increased nearly 10-fold.

Driving progress

More good news: nearly every state has committed to purchasing electric school buses. Many of them are concentrated in districts in California, Florida, Maryland, and Massachusetts, which were early actors. More recently, districts in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas have seen a surge in demand.

Kenni Jean Schrader oversees a fleet of 28 routes covering 139 square miles and transporting 1,400 students daily in the town of Three Rivers, Michigan. “We have seen some very positive impacts on children,” she says. Schrader is Three Rivers’ Transportation Director, and an Electric School Bus Ambassador for WRI. “This includes the students we transport from larger “group stops” who are not exposed to the harmful tailpipe emissions, as well as students with sensory concerns, and students who may be on the bus for an extended period of time.”

Of course, electrifying every school bus in the country is going to take a lot more work. Says Bezos Earth Fund President and CEO Sir Andrew Steer: “There is still a long road ahead to get to full fleet electrification. We are embarking upon a major disruption, and there will be challenges along the way – but make no mistake that the signs are pointing in the right direction.”

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