Miami-Dade County Public Schools is cutting out carbon emissions as they move full speed ahead with a new fleet of electric school buses this school year.
"Today we are taking a huge step towards not only benefitting the school district, but also contributing to our environment,” said Dr. Jose L. Dotres, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
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On Tuesday, 20 Blue Bird Vision electric buses were added to the district’s fleet of nearly 1,000 buses. Seven electric vans were also showcased, which will be used to transport students with special needs.
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Turning yellow school buses green, was spearheaded in part by MAST Academy student Holly Thorpe. She did a science project in the 6th grade measuring pollution caused by traditional diesel-fueled engines on buses.
"I discovered that the normal healthy amount of CO2 is 500 parts per million. That’s a healthy amount, but inside the school bus it’s 5,000 parts per million of CO2, which is so unhealthy for the drivers, the students and the environment. It could cause headaches and asthma," Thorpe said. "It's really bad for you so I decided that we had to make a change, so I went to go speak with the school board and that’s how this started."
Each EV bus can carry 72 students and go up to 120 miles on a single charge.
“I started the protect in 6th grade and now I’m going into 11th grade so it’s been five years and it’s nice to see that it’s finally happening,” said Thorpe.
Florida Power and Light is installing 50 DC fast-charging stations which can take up to six hours to fully recharge the electric buses. Ten of those charging stations should be operational by September of this year.
“Today we win. We’re doing right by our students, our staff and community by making safer, healthier, quieter, non-polluting buses. We’re doing right by our planet by lowering emissions and we’re doing right by our tax payers," said Luisa Santos, a board member with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
The electric buses were purchased through an $11.6 million grant from Florida’s Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement Trust.
Last year, The Florida Department of Environmental Protection distributed those funds to 13 counties.
"The next 50 buses that this school district purchases will cost $50,000 less dollars than buying a diesel bus because of this grant funding,” said Santos.
The district’s electric school buses will also have new safety features like a child reminder button in the back of the bus to ensure that no kids get left behind onboard, and a cooling system for the electric batteries.
