Diesel bus tail pipe emissions cause significant health problems. Headaches, dizziness, eye irritation, nausea are a bad way to start the school day! Emissions are also linked to asthma, cancer, and heart disease. Sitting inside the bus with windows closed does NOT protect from emissions. Research shows quite the opposite: Diesel fumes enter buses through the floor, and closing windows makes pollution worse! The solution: Transition school buses from diesel to electric.
Electric school buses protect the environment as well as people. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Massachusetts. Electrifying our school buses will significantly reduce Newton’s GHG emissions.
This is no pipe dream, as $1.5 million is available to Newton for electric buses and charging infrastructure from a Mass CEC (Clean Energy Center) grant shared with Lincoln. More CEC grants are available and, surprisingly, federal EPA grants opportunities are also coming. The annual cost of an electric school bus approaches that of a diesel bus if the school bus contract is longer than the current norm of 5 years, because the greater upfront cost of an electric bus is offset over time by lower maintenance and fueling costs.
Massachusetts communities are transitioning to electric school buses, including Acton-Boxborough, Arlington, Belmont, Beverly, and Boston. Newton cannot lag behind! Leveraging a Mass CEC grant, Belmont signed a 10-year contract to transition to electric school buses, with annual cost for all necessary services comparable to Belmont’s former Eastern diesel bus contract, and lower annual increases. Stakeholders are investigating whether Newton can do this, too.
Newton students will breathe easier if you express support for allowing a 10-year contract for the transition to electric school buses starting with the contract to be implemented in 2027. Please write to the School Committee, Superintendent, City Council, and Mayor.
Leslie A. Zebrowitz
Newton EV Task Force, co-chair emerita
Newton Centre