DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Throughout the years, the state's education depeatment has made grant funds available for schools to buy electric buses. And while the ride on these buses are smooth, change can be a bumpy ride
The Dearborn school system currently has one electric school bus, but come this fall, 18 additional EV buses will be added to the lineup. However, they were awarded the money for the buses in 2022.
“All of these things do take some time," David Mustonen, the Communications Director for Dearborn Public Schools told me. “So it has been about a two-year process.””It’s been about a two-year process.”
I took a ride on this EV bus. Overall, it felt the same as a regular school bus, but with less noise.
Part of making the ride smooth is a good charge. Dearborn Schools is currently installing the infrastructure, however there is concern about having charging stations elsewhere.
“If we take a bus on a long field trip somewhere, are we going to be able to charge that bus when it gets there or is it going to be able to make that trip there are back, these are all the things that we are figuring out," Mustonen said.
I took these concerns to the Michigan Department of Education, starting with the wait times to get the buses.
“There is a lot of demand right now, and as we saw during the pandemic, when there is high demand some times it takes a little longer to actually physically get the busses on site," said Diane Golzynski, the Deputy Superintendent for Business, Health, and Library Services for Department of Education.
I did reach out to the Ann Arbor Public School system, and was told the EV buses there can go 125 miles in winter, and further in warmer weather. While there might be concerns, there are also benefits, like the health of children.
“By reducing the emissions from diesel school busses, for example, we can provide cleaner air, it helps especially kids with asthma, they tend to have less absences," Golzynski said.
Also, it can save schools money on maintenance. $125 million from this year's state budget is going towards replacing diesel buses with electric buses. So far, 30 million has been awarded to 29 Michigan schools. Schools can apply for the additional $95 million now.
“So there are some concerns, but they’re not concerns that would stop us from doing this, they are concerns we have to take into account as we we bring these busses into the fleet," Mustonen said.
Schools across the state have until OCtober 12thto apply for grant funding for electric buses.
