BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston Public Schools will add 20 electric school buses to its fleet following February vacation, Mayor Michelle Wu and BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper announced Monday.
The new buses, part of Mayor Wu’s Green New Deal plan for BPS, is the larges pilot program of its kind in the northeast. The 20 new buses will take 2,500 students to and from school.
“These buses will reduce vehicle emissions across Boston and cut back on the harmful fumes that students, staff, and drivers are exposed to when riding diesel buses,” Wu said.
Housed at the Readville Bus Yard, the buses can each go 120 miles on a full charge. Although that’s less than a diesel tank, which is usually 360-390 miles, the average route for a BPS bus is only about 40 miles. Therefore, officials say the benefits of electric outweigh the lower mileage, and the buses can be recharged midday if need be.
“To have school buses that we know will have regenerative braking, will have zero emissions, which will have no noise, and for our students such a wonderful model and example of what’s to come in the future,” said Superintendent Skipper.
The city’s goal is to electrify the entire BPS fleet by 2030, a goal the mayor says is right on track.
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