Fully Electric School Buses To Hit The Road in Upstate New York

Nineteen Upstate New York School Districts are getting busloads of federal money to buy all new, electric school buses.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced a total of $50 million in funding for the purchase of 130 low and zero-emissions buses for Upstate school districts. The money was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden nearly one year ago. It represents the first round of $5 billion in federal grants for districts nationwide. Across the U.S., this first round includes a billion dollars to cover the cost of 2,500 electric buses, Schumer's Office said, with additional grants to be announced through 2026.

Among the school districts receive grants to buy new electric school buses are Adirondack, receiving $1.185 million for the purchase of three buses, and Fabius-Pompey, set to receive nearly $2 million for the purchase of 5 buses.

The largest grant announced by Schumer for Upstate New York was in the Rondout Valley Central School District - $9.875 million for 25 buses. Onteora Centra Schools are getting almost $8.3 million for 21 buses.

A release from the NY Democrat said ''...diesel exhaust from old fossil fuel is a major contributor to air quality problems in many communities and has been linked to poor health and asthma, especially for children, whose lungs are not yet fully developed. Now communities that have been historically underserved in both urban and rural areas, that otherwise likely could not afford new buses will benefit by using the newest and cleanest technologies available."

Schumer also supported the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act which - in addition to the $5 billion mentioned above - includes another billion dollars in federal funding for electric buses, garbage trucks and other vehicles.

Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul announced an initiative to replace all of New York State's roughly 50,000 school buses with 100% electric ones by 2035.

All of the districts included in this round of grant funding can be found here.