Electric school buses help meet our climate goals

There is a growing movement in Canada and the world to move away from carbon and air polluting transportation options. Electric school buses are garnering a lot of attention as most school bus manufacturers now offer an electric option, with Canada’s own LION Electric leading the pack.

Why are diesel school buses still the default choice for pupil transportation in New Brunswick when there is a non-polluting, non-emitting option in the electric school bus readily available?  

The 2016 New Brunswick Climate Change Action Plan committed to reducing government fleet emissions by procuring “alternative fuel vehicles.” The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development responded to that commitment by procuring 74 gasoline and 16 propane school buses.

The average diesel school bus in New Brunswick will emit approximately 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. There are roughly 1,250 school buses in New Brunswick which accounts for 22,500 tonnes of CO₂ fleetwide, making it one of the biggest CO₂ emitters in all of government.

Gasoline and propane emit fewer emissions, estimated 16.8 and 16 tonnes annually, not nearly enough to help meet emissions reductions goals of 10.7 million tonnes (Mt)  by 2030 and 5 Mt by 2050.

The third option is to electrify the school bus fleet so that it is non-emitting and non-polluting.  If the province is to get serious about its climate change goals, it needs to strive for more significant emissions reductions.

There are just two electric school buses in New Brunswick that were part of an initial pilot project in 2017. Yet, five years later there have been no additional procurements of electric school buses despite neighboring jurisdictions, such as Québec and Prince Edward Island (PEI), making significant commitments to achieve a 65 per cent and 100 per cent electric fleet, respectively, in the next decade.

In New Brunswick, however, there have been no major commitments or inclinations beyond the pilot project.

One concern of government is the high sticker price that comes with electric school buses – approximately $380,000 versus $130,000 for diesel. Despite this, it is an opportune time to purchase electric school buses thanks to available federal funding and the high cost of fuel.

PEI accessed the Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan to fund 50 per cent of the cost for each of their three electric school bus procurements, totaling 82 buses since 2020. Similarly, the $2.75 billion Zero Emissions Transit Fund will pay for 50 per cent of school bus purchases and charging infrastructure up to $350 million.

Cost becomes less of a concern considering electric school buses have cheaper maintenance and fuel costs than any of the fossil fuel options – a consideration especially prescient given this past year of tumultuous fuel prices.

There is also a health benefit to electric school buses. Diesel and gasoline emit air pollutants harmful to human health that contribute to childhood bronchitis, asthma, as well as other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Health Canada estimates that traffic related air pollution from all sources in Canada cost the healthcare system $9.5 billion in 2015. Transportation electrification helps alleviate these costs to the healthcare system, strengthening the economic argument for electric school buses.

The school bus is one of the most well-known symbols for early childhood education. Children who ride an electric school bus from an early age will not only be healthier but will grow up expecting zero-emissions transportation.

New Brunswick’s updated climate action plan must strengthen its commitment to green procurement and invest in non-polluting and non-emitting school transportation. The province must align with its neighbors in PEI that are figuratively (and literally) on an island and commit to a 100 per cent electric school bus fleet in the next decade.