Blue Bird Corporation, in conjunction with its dealer Anderson Blue Bird Bus Sales of New England, delivered its first batch of 20 electric school buses to Boston Public Schools (BPS).
School officials and local government leaders hail the groundbreaking pilot program as the largest electric school bus deployment in the Northeast. Spearheaded by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, the transition to electric vehicles will help BPS to significantly reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions while improving student and community health.
Boston Public Schools recently put 20 advanced Blue Bird Vision electric buses into service. The school buses can carry a maximum of 71 students for up to 120 miles on a single charge. The vehicles take approximately four hours to charge from 0% to 100% based on BPS's Level III ICE 30 kW fast chargers installed at their Readville, MA bus depot. Blue Bird’s zero-emission buses now transport over 2,500 students safely and reliably to and from 42 local-area schools every day.
“We are thrilled by this historic partnership. This pilot program is an important step in our work towards a fully electric fleet by 2030, as part of the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools,” said Mary Skipper, Superintendent for Boston Public Schools. “These buses are quieter, cleaner, and are an essential part of reducing BPS’ carbon footprint and creating a healthier city. Putting the needs of our young people first is central to our mission. Clean, reliable buses that get our students to school reliably, while also cutting down on pollutants in the air and reducing carbon emissions is an important step that we must take for the well-being of Boston’s young people and their future.”
Boston Public Schools has relied on Anderson Blue Bird Bus Sales of New England for more than 10 years to help meet its student transportation needs and maintains a fleet of nearly 750 buses, approximately a third which are diesel powered. The school district acquired the electric buses for the pilot program from Anderson Blue Bird Bus Sales of New England, a family-owned and -operated dealership serving the region since 1961.
Boston Public Schools anticipates benefiting from significant cost saving opportunities by reducing or eliminating the fuel and maintenance costs tied to traditional diesel powered vehicles. Select Blue Bird customers reported fuel costs of up to 49 cents per mile for their diesel buses, compared to an average 14 cents per mile in energy costs for electric buses.
