Electric School Bus Pilot Project: Morris Area School District's electric school bus arrives

In our Facebook wall this afternoon, we saw this post by our friends at CURE (Clean Up The River Environment) in Montevideo:

Clicking through the link on the full post, we landed in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Electric school bus pilot project page, where we learned:

Through this 2020 grant round, the MPCA awarded over $2.1 million statewide to public and private entities for the Electric School Bus Pilot project.

In addition to removing older, more polluting diesel buses off the roads, the pilot project is designed to help determine the viability of electric bus technology in Minnesota’s cold climes. During the grant period, grantees will provide MPCA with quarterly data on bus operation and performance, maintenance, and energy use, among others.

Awarded grants

Five school districts and private entities entered into grant agreements for the electric school bus pilot program. Eventually, a total of eight funded electric buses will be serving school districts around the state. Each bus includes one charging station.

Grant projects are anticipated to reduce pollution: greenhouse gases (1,120 tons), nitrogen oxide (5.4 tons), and fine particle pollution (0.3 tons).

Grantee	Grant	Number of buses	Service area
Faribault Transportation Services, Inc.	$253,910	1	Non-metro: Faribault Public Schools
Monarch Bus Service	$253,910	1	Metro: St. Paul/Columbia Heights schools
Morris Area School District (ISD 2769)	$545,043	2	Non-metro: Morris Area School District
Northstar Bus Lines LLC	$824,873	3	Metro: Osseo Area School District
Ottertail Coaches Inc.	$270,623	1	Non-metro: Fergus Falls Public Schools

 

Seven grants were awarded, but two awardees withdrew from consideration; funds from those projects will be carried over to future electric school bus grant opportunities.

Let's hope the agency gathers valuable data to help other school districts to adopt green buses.

Image: From the MCPA.

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