As diesel school buses reach the end of their lifeline, many school districts are exploring battery-electric options as a cleaner, healthier, and more cost-effective alternative. While there may be initial concerns around workforce readiness, safety, and driver experience, the transition to electric school buses brings a host of benefits – and we’re here to help guide you through it.

Will I need to find new trained and skilled personnel to operate and maintain these new electric buses?

A successful shift to electric school buses does depend on a knowledgeable workforce, but that doesn’t mean starting from scratch. At RIDE, we offer a tiered training program that covers everything from basic maintenance to advanced technical diagnostics, designed to support your team every step of the way.

We understand that each school district has unique needs, which is why we customize our support to fit your specific requirements – whether through the RIDE customer service team or our network of authorized maintenance dealers. Our team is always just a phone call away, ready to guide you through the transition with personalized assistance every step of the way.

How do electric school buses improve rider safety?

Safety, especially battery safety, is our top priority. RIDE school buses are purpose-built and equipped with lithium-iron phosphate battery technology offering a reliable and secure solution for student transportation.

RIDE batteries undergo extensive testing including crushing, heat and puncture resistance, and come with a 12-year warranty. Through innovative technologies, rigorous testing, and comprehensive training programs, RIDE goes above and beyond to ensure battery safety – offering a level of assurance that sets us apart from our competitors in the market.

In addition to battery safety, RIDE electric school buses have successfully passed some of the most rigorous structural tests in the industry, including a side intrusion test and the Colorado Racking and Kentucky Pull Test, ensuring maximum structural integrity and safety.

Furthermore, RIDE buses are equipped with all key industry-standard safety components. Our engineering team works closely with suppliers to continuously enhance product safety from the rider’s perspective.

Will electric school buses affect driver performance?

Electric school buses are designed to enhance, not hinder, driver performance. Many drivers report a smoother and more responsive driving experience compared to diesel buses. With instant torque and regenerative braking, electric buses provide greater control and easier handling, particularly in stop-and-go traffic or on hilly routes.

The quiet operation of electric school buses heightens the driver’s ability to monitor the school bus and its passengers. The overall reduced noise level allows for clearer communication between the driver, students, and any adults on the bus, especially during emergencies or stops. The sustainable design also helps reduce harmful emissions, improving air quality for students – especially those with asthma or respiratory issues.

In addition, the quiet operation of electric buses helps reduce driver fatigue and allows for better focus. Without the constant rumble of a diesel engine, drivers can more easily hear and communicate with students, leading to a calmer and safer ride.

The shift to battery-electric school buses represents more than just a change in technology – it’s a commitment to cleaner air, healthier communities, and a more sustainable future for our students. While the transition may come with questions, solutions are already in place to support every step of the journey. Let’s take the next step forward, together.

Learn more at ride.co. Read Jason Yan’s Q&A from the July issue of School Transportation News and co-CEO Patrick Duan’s Q&A from the June issue.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post Moving Forward Together Toward a Battery-Electric Future appeared first on School Transportation News.

A new requirement for selling electric school buses in New York has school bus dealers there worried about vehicle availability and even higher prices one year before a mandate goes into effect requiring all purchases be zero emissions.

The $254-billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year signed into law May 9 includes a much-needed extension to 2029 for school districts demonstrating their hardships with implementing ESBs to begin purchasing only electric school buses. But provision Article 11-C, while good in theory for its intent to provide better range estimates, is short on detail that the dealers association said could lead to unintended consequences.

The three paragraphs call for independent third-party, real-world ESB range testing to be performed starting Jan. 1, 2026, before the zero-emissions vehicles could be sold to in-state school districts and bus companies. Data must be obtained over 10,000 miles operated in extreme weather conditions and over different terrains to gauge battery degradation and resulting range. The law also wants the testing to account for parking  ESBs outside versus inside. It does not specify how the types of chargers used could affect the battery lifecycle.

The New York School Bus Distributors Association (NYSBDA) opposes the provision.

“New York’s school bus dealers are transparent with their customers about the impact extreme weather conditions, terrain, driver operation, and many other factors have on the range of all-electric school buses,” said Peter Tunny, the organization’s executive director. “School districts rely on school bus dealers to partner with them to ensure more than 2.3 million children safely get to school and back home each day and part of that responsibility is to provide the most accurate data available regarding the capabilities of electric school buses.”

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which oversees the state’s zero emission school bus initiative, told School Transportation News last month it is aware such testing exists, available from unnamed firms or testing facilities nationwide. Aside from specific testing centers or procedures, the question that remains to be answered is how, especially with just over six months before the law goes into effect.

One student transporter familiar with the legislative negotiations told STN legislators may have added the range testing requirement to counterbalance the additional year extension granted to school districts.

“If you want that, you are going to have to do this,” the source added.

The intent of the range estimates is to bridge the gap between best-case-scenario figures marketed by OEMs and what student transporters are reporting from their operations. The theory is good, added NYSBDA’s Tunny, but school bus dealers are unaware of any such procedures or facilities to perform such tests.

More questions center on a $1,000 fine, ostensibly on school bus dealers, if the real-world estimates are not provided. No mention is made of how this money will be collected or what it would be used for, such as existing funds for school districts to electrify their fleets. The New York State Attorney General’s office oversees the penalties for violations. A spokesperson had not responded to a request for comment at this writing.

There was also no clarity on if the fine would be tantamount to purchasing a carbon credit. Would it be cheaper for a dealer or OEM to take the $1,000 fine and then proceed with the sale? Would that even be allowed? A source familiar with the legislation but who asked to remain anonymous noted the fine would be “a drop in the bucket” for a $450,000 electric school bus.

NYSBDA is seeking clarification.

“With little information regarding entities which provide independent rate estimates for electric school buses, it is impossible to know if it will make more sense to pay for the testing or the $1,000 fine,” said Tunny, a retired director of transportation for South Colonie Central Schools near Albany. “Unfortunately, at the end of the day, any increasing costs by the state will ultimately be passed on to the school district. It might make more sense with the state to conduct the independent testing by working with New York school transportation stakeholders, and utilizing a state entity, like [NYSERDA] in conjunction with the state education department.

He added that NYSBDA continues to analyze the language of the budget to determine if it would be feasible for OEMs to provide the testing or ship the buses from the factory to a testing site.

“The law should be repealed immediately so the school transportation stakeholders can sit down with Gov. [Kathy] Hochul and the legislature to help craft a law that will actually accomplish their goals without creating another obstacle to selling electric school buses in New York State,” he said.

School bus OEMs are also finally attuned to the matter, albeit they had no answers to the issue yet, either. A Blue Bird spokesman told STN the OEM and its dealers are “monitoring related developments and evaluating appropriate steps.” Meanwhile, a representative of Thomas Built Buses said its dealers were meeting with their lobbyists. At this report, no dealers had asked their OEM partners that more accurate range testing be performed before the school buses ship from the factories.

Related: New York Gov. Hochul Open to Extending Electric School Bus Mandate
Related: Funding, Data and Resiliency Needed for Electric School Bus Success
Related: Update: Future of Electric School Bus Funding Remains Unknown, Warns Expert

There are options for collecting the required data, but they could take time. One scenario could utilize telematics data from ESBs and create statistical models for different road conditions, weather and geography through in-use operations. The EV Watts program provides reliable estimates for over 950 electric passenger vehicles based on kilowatt-hours consumed. It is one the largest public datasets available. A source familiar with the program told STN that a school bus version EV Watts had been planned but its funding was cut.

Still, there are far fewer electric school buses in operation to run similar models. And aside from running models in all different temperatures and road conditions, additional challenges arise in more technology and operational variances such as battery capacity and programming, the impact of different wheelbases and tires on fuel economy, and the effect of using electrical heating compared to fuel-fired heaters, to name a few.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory works with a half-dozen school districts nationwide to provide data for its FleetREDI analyzer. But none of the school districts operate in New York, though NREL is actively looking to recruit additional electric bus fleets, a representative told a panel audience at the ACT Expo in April.

Other nonprofit clean energy consultants could potentially perform or facilitate testing. But first, NYSERDA would need to provide guidance.

“Even so, the timeline could be hard to meet,” another EV consultant added.

The post State Budget Calls for Real-world Range Testing for Electric School Bus Sales appeared first on School Transportation News.

ANAHIEM, Calif. — “It’s an honor to kick off ACT Expo 2025,” said Jennifer Rumsey, chair and chief executive officer of Cummins. “We’re in a very different place than we were just a year ago. We always knew the energy transition was going to be dynamic, and it’s clear now it’s going to be even more dynamic, more uncertain, more divergent than we ever thought it would be.”

Rumsey, who has spent the last 25 years at Cummins first as a mechanical engineer and later as an executive, noted in her opening general session April 28 that regulations were driving the industry toward a net-zero future. Cummins, like most large OEMs, was investing a record amount of money to meet those goals. Yet, concerns regarding infrastructure investment to support the emerging technology also existed.

She said the trucking and bus industry is just now starting to understand how the Trump administration’s policies might impact the future.

“There’s proposals to reconsider or reevaluate EPA regulations and natural uncertainty as this process takes shape, the incentives for battery electric vehicles offered through the IRA used onshore manufacturing and help drive adoption are back on the negotiating table, and tariffs are being used as trade policies and also impacting our businesses,” Rumsey explained. “So, what does this mean for us today? It means there’s more uncertainty than ever before about the role regulations, incentives and trade policies will play for the future of our industry.”

She commented that despite a potential rollback of regulations, Cummins is continuing to invest billions of dollars to innovate and develop cleaner, more advanced and efficient technologies. “I’ve seen us over the last several decades, we’ve made real progress, real impact together,” she said, adding that even in terms of diesel engines, the industry has significantly reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency.

She noted that “advancements in fuel injection systems, turbo chargers, after treatment and controls, have reduced NOx and particulate emissions by more than 98 percent in the U.S. and 90 percent globally,” she continued. “To put that into perspective, today, it takes 60 class eight semis to emit what a single semi-truck emitted in 1988.”

Cummins, she said, has improved the per-gallon fuel mileage for its on highway heavy duty engines by nearly 25 percent since 2010. The company also set a goal of reducing 55 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its products already in the field from 2014 to 2030. That equates to 5.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel and almost $20 billions in savings.

“In fact, we are hitting that goal early,” Rumsey shared. “I’m pleased to share our goal to double our efforts for products and use over the next five years, helping many of you further improve fuel efficiency and reduce operating costs.”

She said all of this was achieved while also navigating challenges such as the COVID-19 recession and subsequent supply chain disruptions.

“I believe this is a time for us to come together to move the industry forward, to focus on the positive impact we can have in the midst of the uncertainty and challenges we are facing right now,” she said. “I remind myself each day of the beauty and goodness and the people and the world around us, and the opportunity that I and we all have to make a positive difference to ensure a planet where we our kids and our grandkids have access to clean air and water.”

She explained that everyone plays a role in empowering a more prosperous world. She provided three elements that she thinks be essential for success, the first being the right government regulations.

“We need to set clear and challenging but also achievable goals that drive innovation and allow the best technologies to compete and help meet the standards we set,” she said. “We need certainty and time to meet them, regulations that force the adoption of certain technologies may exclude some of the best solutions, and they may also overlook meaningful improvements in today’s technologies. We don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of good.”

She explained that many power solutions and alternative fuel sources will be in the mix for a long time. These include diesel, biodiesel blends, natural gas and hydrogen engines, as well as battery electric, fuel cell and hybrid solutions, “because no single solution will meet our broader goals.”

“Fair and unbiased regulations enable businesses to invest in a diverse portfolio of technologies that drive innovation and give choice to nations’ fleets,” she continued.

Second, she said the industry must consider the life cycle emissions of fuel or energy when making decisions on emission reduction and standards. Rumsey explained that it’s not just about the tail pipe emissions, but the complete cost of fuel production, transportation and distribution.

She said the industry also needs to continue making innovative improvements in technology offerings “that both reduce greenhouse gas and improve fuel efficiency, allowing our customers to find the most efficient, cost-effective solutions for their business and application needs,” she said.

She noted that improved fuel efficiency is the biggest greenhouse gas emission savings opportunity. “Our industry will continue operating internal combustion engines for many years, and it’s important to continue to make tangible and incremental improvements to diesel, while also advancing low carbon alternate fuels to give customers choice as the infrastructure builds out,” she said.

Related: First Student’s Kenning Discusses School Bus Electrification, Technology Innovation
Related: Report Highlights Shift in Federal Policy from EVs to Conventional Fuels
Related: Gallery: ACT Expo 2025
Related: (STN Podcast E257) The Paths Forward: AI, Clean Energy, Manufacturing Discussed at ACT Expo

For example, the new Cummins X15 engine is designed to improve fuel economy by 4 percent while greatly reducing NOx. She added, however, that battery-electric technologies are a part of the solution mix for reducing emissions and aligning with sustainability goals.

“Lithium-ion battery price per kilowatt hour has dropped by more than 85 percent in the last decade, and we are starting to see an increasing number of economic cases for electric vehicle adoption in certain commercial vehicle applications,” she said. “For example, Blue Bird has delivered more than 2,500 school buses equipped with electric powertrains and estimates that more than 90 percent of school bus routes can now be served by electric buses. That said, we need to continue to innovate in this space to ensure total cost of ownership gets close to that of diesel and enable adoption.”

She added that Cummins is partnering with Paccar, Daimler Truck of North America and Amplify Cell Technologies to manufacture lithium-ion phosphate battery cells for commercial vehicles at a plant outside of Memphis, Tennessee. A spokesman later told School Transportation News that the battery cells will be ready for market in 2027.

“While we’re currently in a period of vast uncertainty, my hope is that we can be unquestionably certain about one thing, our shared commitment to continue powering a more prosperous world to moving forward together, because no one can do it alone,” she said.

The post Cummins CEO Says Mixed Fuel Approach is Key for Commercial Sector appeared first on School Transportation News.