Ontario to invest in electric school buses

School bus operators providing student transportation services in Ontario can apply for funding to purchase an electric school bus and associated charging infrastructure, with applicants being chosen based on their experience in student transportation, ability to successfully deliver a pilot project, as well as their location in Ontario, type of route serviced, and the size of their school bus fleet.

“The electric school bus pilot is another way our government is doing its part to help fight climate change,” said Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation. “This pilot program will help us better understand how electric school buses could operate across Ontario. And children riding in an electric school bus will have the added benefit of seeing the possibilities in creating a greener, cleaner environment.”

The Electric School Bus Pilot Program will cost $8 million and will run from 1 December 2017 to 30 June 2019. Data collected on the performance of the electric school buses will be used to develop a business case for their adoption by school bus operators, and also to examine their potential within student transportation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.

“Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan and our carbon market work together to support innovative ideas like this electric school bus pilot that will reduce harmful greenhouse gas pollution, help create a cleaner, low-carbon future, and inspire our children in the process,” added Chris Ballard, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.

Ontario’s five-year Climate Change Action Plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 15% below 1990 levels by 2020, 37% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.