Coalition works to make NYC’s yellow school buses go green
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A diesel-burning yellow school bus parks outside a Ridgewood school last month. Eagle photo by David Brand
By Rachel VIck
A coalition of environmental groups and elected officials want New York City’s yellow school buses to go green.
The newly formed NYC Clean School Bus Coalition unveiled a plan Monday to electrify the privately-owned, diesel-fueled school bus fleet serving schoolchildren by 2040 to match the city’s commitment for its public buses.
“Part of creating a more equitable and sustainable city is prioritizing the health and safety of children as well as community as a whole through the electrification of school buses,” said New York Lawyers for the Public Interest community organizer Jenny Veloz.
The city relies on roughly 10,000 buses to shuttle students to and from school in the five boroughs. While many kids take public transportation or walk to class, every student in kindergarten, first and second grade who lives further than a half-mile from school is entitled to a school bus ride. Third- through sixth-graders who live more than a mile from their school can also take the school bus.
Children who ride diesel school buses have a higher risk of asthma, one of the leading causes of school absences, according to a report from the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, which hosted the event Monday.
“We should all be fighting to make sure that every community in New York City breathes clean, fresh air,” Veloz said. “We need this for our children. They continue to ride these school buses, breathing in diesel air, toxic fumes.”
The effects are felt most heavily in low-income communities of color, where a disproportionate number of bus depots are located, and for students with disabilities who spend more time on the bus on average than able-bodied students.
“Chancellor’s regulations allow students on special education or shelter routes to ride the bus up to four hours per day, the folks who work these buses are on even longer,” said Sarah Catalinotto, a member of the organization Parents to Improve School Transportation. “Many kids need busing to access an education, but it must be safe for their lungs too.”
Diesel fuel contributes to the amount of fine particulate matter in the air, pollutants that can increase the chance of death from COVID-19 by at least 8 percent if inhaled regularly, according to a new study from Harvard. The chance of death increased exponentially for individuals with long-term exposure.
New York City has committed to electrifying the city’s public fleet by 2040 under the Climate Leadership Community Protection Act, but that legislation that does not extend to the private sector, even though school buses serve public schools.
In 2018 Councilmember Daniel Dromm introduced a bill that would phase out diesel buses by 2040. The legislation has stalled in committee.
“We do need more investment in electric school buses, but we can do this, we just need to take a step in the right direction,” said New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund Director of Programs Angela Hotaling. “Maybe we can’t buy all electric right now, but we shouldn’t keep buying these diesel buses.”
