Fuel prices driving up school busing costs in Georgia, but new technologies offer savings

ATLANTA — From icy roads on wintry mornings in the Appalachian foothills to dirt roads that wash out in heavy rains, it’s not always easy getting to and from school in Georgia.

This year, rising fuel prices are making it more expensive as well.

But help is on the way from the federal government. A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program aims at providing school buses an alternative to gasoline or diesel fuel by funding bus electrification.

The agency will award around $1 billion annually for the next five years to school districts that want to purchase electric, propane, or CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles.

The funding comes from the infrastructure spending law Congress passed last year. The awardees will be announced in October. Some of the funding can also be used for setting up electric charging infrastructure.

The EPA says that reducing or eliminating pollution from buses helps improve children’s respiratory health. The agency also says alternative-fuel buses also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintenance and fuel costs.

Joe Meadows, transportation director for the Ware County Schools, said the county is the largest by area in the state. The district’s fuel expenditures have nearly doubled, Meadows said.

He runs about 73 routes every day. About half of his buses run on diesel and the other half on gasoline, he said. Rising prices on both types of fuel are hitting the district hard, he said.

Meadows said he’s had to double up on some routes to save money. Nevertheless, three days into the school year, the buses are running smoothly.

“We’re working through this day by day,” said Meadows, who must ensure that students who live on dirt roads on the border of the Okefenokee Swamp can make it to and from school each day.

Those long distances and treacherous conditions rule out electric vehicles for his district, Meadows said. He’s considering propane and CNG-fueled bus options, however, as a way of keeping down costs.

Georgia’s second-largest county by area, Burke County, has succeeded in using propane-fueled buses to rein in costs.

The district began converting its buses to run on propane fuel in 2013. It has converted about two-thirds of its fleet so far, Burke County Public Schools spokeswoman Amy Nunnally said.

She said that though diesel prices rose this summer, the district is able to purchase propane at just $1.10 per gallon after a federal rebate.

“Just this year alone, we will save almost $700,000 in fuel costs,” Nunnally said.