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Deploying Electric School Buses in Rural and Suburban Districts
When the first electric school buses rolled into his rural South Carolina yard, Karim Johnson already knew what to expect. He’d learned those lessons hundreds of miles north, in a suburban district in upstate New York, where early adoption meant long nights, slow chargers and plenty of guesswork.
But this time it was different. In New York, he had to do it all: secure grants, navigate RFPs, scrap old buses and install chargers that took eight hours to recharge after a single route. In South Carolina, the buses arrived, chargers installed, paperwork complete and keys ready to be handed over. Yet, despite the smoother rollout, one challenge remains the same: selecting the routes the ESBs would run on, and in South Carolina, that’s a 175-mile rural route.
Johnson, the current director of transportation at Dorchester School District 4 in South Carolina, said at his previous school district — Bethlehem Central School District in New York — ESB adoption was much more nuanced. He recalled overseeing everything from applying for grants to infrastructure set up. When he started the ESB journey in 2021, the technology was still considered new and limited charging options were available, leaving him to select Level 2 chargers with no charge management software.
“There was a lot of community support for it,” he said of purchasing EVs, noting it was a process. “Those buses were purchased through [The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] NYSERDA, and we were able to work with our bus dealership, which was Matthews Bus in New York State. They were a really big resource.”
However, he said the NYSERDA Grant had stipulations of what routes the buses needed to be on. So, instead of placing buses on the shortest district routes, they had to be placed on Johnson’s longest routes in New York. The district purchased two more EVs outside of the grant, which they deployed on shorter routes.
In South Carolina, Johnson said the state was awarded funding from Round 1 of the Environmental Protection Agency Clean School Bus Program. And because the state owns and maintains all school buses, it handled bus procurement, infrastructure setup, charger selection, and utility collaboration. Dorchester was awarded eight ESBs. Six have already been delivered, with four currently on the road and two awaiting minor work. However, once the buses were delivered, Johnson was able to immediately start driver training and route assignments.
Routes in Dorchester, however, are long, ranging from 90 to 175 miles a day, far above the typical ESB ideal use case. The lack of shorter routes, Johnson said, creates deployment constraints. Though with the DC fast chargers installed, buses can charge in the middle of the day, allowing them to be used in both a morning and afternoon route. This was a huge difference, as in New York his chargers would take eight hours to charge, making them sometimes unable to be used during the afternoon runs. In contrast, the DC fast chargers take around three hours and only run into challenges if there’s a mid-day route that needs coverage.
In addition to their ESB operation training, drivers must ensure the buses are plugged in after each route and have sufficient charge before each trip. Plus, in New York, drivers had to consider the weather, as the range dropped about 20 miles in colder months.
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“I have no surprises now when it comes to the EV buses,” Johnson said. “When something comes up, I know the steps to go through, from working with the dealership, or … with the bus distributor.”
Johnson advised transportation directors looking to implement ESBs to plan thoroughly and early, evaluating everything from route lengths to charging times and dwell windows. Plus, he said, it’s important to choose the right infrastructure where fast chargers may be essential for rural or long-mileage districts. He also advised directors to understand the grant requirements.
He noted that while initial development will reveal operational challenges, it’s a learning curve and soon directors will be familiar with the ESBs like they are with their diesel buses. Overall, he concluded, with the right planning and charging strategy, EVs don’t need to be limited to the shortest routes.
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