On the ballot: Yellow buses could be going green
Bethlehem voters positioned to make decision on using funding for electric vehicles
District residents will vote in May on whether Bethlehem schools will be among the first in New York to use electric buses.
The district wants to purchase up to nine electric buses, which would be partially paid for with a grant from the New
York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
The White Plains school district in Westchester County is believed to be the first in New York to start using electric school buses three years ago.
Karim Johnson, Bethlehem’s transportation director, said electric vehicles are quiet, and the buses will likely be outfitted with sounds to alert other drivers and pedestrians. “It’s too early to say what the Bethlehem buses will sound like or what kind of alert system they will be
equipped with, as we do not have a purchase plan in place yet,” Johnson said in an email to the Times Union.
The purchase of the nine buses, which would be used starting in the fall, would “begin a transition of the district’s bus fleet from diesel-fuel to zero-emission electric school buses,” the district said in a letter to parents Wednesday.
The White Plains buses also feed electricity back into the power grid, a feature that would eventually come with Bethlehem buses. “The timing will be subject
to when National Grid has the necessary system infrastructure in place to accommodate a V2G (Vehicle to Grid) system,” Judith Kehoe, the district’s chief business and financial officer, said in an email to the Times Union.
Bethlehem voters will decide on a $1,675,000 bus proposition as part of the annual school district budget vote on Tuesday,
May 18. The district said the electric buses would replace nine large 2009 diesel buses. The addition of $1 million in grants available through NYSERDA helps makes purchase of electric buses feasible, the district said. The proposition cost would cover the buses, as well as charging
stations.
The debt service payments for the buses would be rolled into the 2021-22 budget spending, which district officials expect will be under the state-mandated property tax cap.
Kehoe said the state grant makes the cost of a new electric bus within $40,000 of a new diesel bus. “If you factor in all costs over the life of both types of buses, now you have two vehicles that essentially cost the same, but with the added benefit of one being environmentally-friendly,” Kehoe said in a statement.
The district said the nine buses would hopefully be the start of transitioning its entire fleet to electric.