24 million school children travel on 454,000 school buses nationwide. About 90 percent of these buses run on diesel fuel annually emitting:
- 3,000 tons of cancer-causing soot
- 95,000 tons of smog-causing compounds
Children riding on diesel school buses are exposed to 5 to 15 times more air toxins than the rest of the population
Childhood exposure from diesel soot emitted by school buses has also been associated with:
- reduced lung function
- increased incidences of pneumonia
The Natural Resources Defense Council has estimated that school bus diesel exposures to children pose as much as 23 to 46 times the cancer risk considered significant under federal law.
It’s time to switch to Electric School Buses!
- Cleaner air: Electrifying buses can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 40% because they have no exhaust
- Safer: better handling, responsiveness, and ride comfort and less likely to roll over due to lower center of gravity.
- Low maintenance costs (up to 70% less than diesel!). Diesel buses break down more frequently and are more costly to repair.
- Longer lifespan (12-16 years) than diesel
- Predictable charging fees cut fuel costs by approximately 80%
- As clean as the source of electricity used to charge them
