NYC School Bus Umbrella Services Inc.

In 2021, NYC committed to 100% electric school buses (ESBs) by 2035 in partnership with NYCSBUS, a non-profit. Emissions from diesel school buses are harmful to children and disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities like Zerega, in the Bronx. While ESBs are commercially available, significant deployment barriers remain: driver and mechanic knowledge gaps, charging infrastructure planning, and scaling. Project Electrifying School Buses in the Bronx (ESBB) addresses these challenges. NYCSBUS, WRI (World Resources Institute), NYLCV (New York League of Conservation Voters), Mobility House, and CALSTART propose: 1) an innovation cluster to train existing talent on ESBs, 2) charging infrastructure planning with vehicle-to-grid preparation, and 3) a mobility hub demonstrating HDV electric mobility can support other sustainable transportation choices benefiting the community. Project ESBB will deploy 30 ESBs at the Bronx Zerega depot in two phases. The project strategy will be replicated to electrify the entire 960 bus fleet by 2035. We leverage $16 million as direct funds from NYC and NYCSBUS.

This project will create a hands-on training center with technical college partnerships, develop a customized managed charging plans and networked chargers to control costs from demand and time-of-use charges, and create an electric mobility hub to address existing space constraints and localized emissions while providing EV chargers, bikes, and scooters for employees and local residents alike.