MOTHERS OUT FRONT LAUNCH ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS CAMPAIGN IN AMHERST

Mothers Out Front/Amherst held an Electric School Bus Campaign launch on November 24 at the Jones Library. The event featured a presentation by Brian Foulds, Chair of the Concord Climate Action Advisory Board and the citizen activist who spearheaded Concord’s Electric School Bus campaign.

Foulds located and helped to secure the federal funding for the pilot program bringing the first three electric school buses to Massachusetts (Concord, Amherst, and Cambridge) in January 2017. Thanks to him, Concord continues to lead the state in decarbonizing school bus fleets. Concord has applied for funding for a second electric school bus and plans to use vehicle-to-grid charging when the buses are not in use in order to further reduce emissions and provide revenue for the town. (Read more about bus to building energy use here).

At the Amherst event, Foulds presented a Powerpoint program about the benefits of electric buses, as well as the hurdles that need to be overcome to transition from diesel fleets to electric. Issues addressed included health risks to children from breathing diesel fumes, various fuel sources for buses including costs (and how electricity can lower and stabilize costs of both fuel and maintenance), creative funding sources to help pay for electric buses, and the potential for using buses’ batteries as backup sources of electricity for the schools or the town. A lively question-and-answer period followed, with leaders listening to people’s concerns in order to creatively and collaboratively find solutions.

About 40 people attended the launch, including Kerry Spitzer, a member of the Amherst Regional Public School (ARPS) committee who was interested in bringing the information back to the school committee, and a Northampton resident gathering information for a member of that town’s School Committee. Northampton might be interested in partnering with Amherst in acquiring additional electric buses. Spitzer voiced support for the campaign, saying, “I thought it was great to see a community member who has taken such an active role in trying to move the needle on climate change, and I think that we could learn a lot from continuing the conversation with Concord and other communities that have made this change. Our biggest challenge [in going electric] is going to be creating the infrastructure and finding the funding sources, so I really like the idea that the petition is asking us to study how we can green our school bus fleet.”

Most people in the room expressed excitement about the potential for electrifying our school bus fleet though there was also concern raised about the costs.  Purchase prices for electric school buses are considerably higher than for diesel though Foulds noted that when considering operating costs over the life of a bus, the cost gap narrows substantially as  maintenance and fuel costs are lower for electric buses. He also suggested that with six North American manufacturers currently making electric school buses and with more companies expected to enter the market, and with states like Virginia mandating a complete transition from diesel to electric by 2030,  that the expanding market should start to drive prices down.  And Foulds noted that while costs for transitioning to electric are currently high, there are also opportunities for creative financing. 

In the meantime, Amherst can enter the next round of applications for grants from the Environmental Mitigation Trust (established by a federal settlement with Volkswagen)  which provides funds to school districts to help transition school bus fleets to electric. And Amherst can explore a partnership with Eversource. Partnerships with utility companies have been central to aggressive decarbonizing efforts in Virigina, New Jersey, and California. Foulds emphasized that it’s time for creative thinking.   

A petition will be presented to the Amherst–Pelham Regional School Committee on December 10 (but people can add signatures until December 17). People can sign the petition here. The petition asks the School Committee to develop a plan to transition Amherst school buses to electric as soon as it is feasible, and to research grants and funding partnerships.