MIDDLETOWN- Students in the Middletown Enlarged City School District are the first in the region to ride to school on all-electric school buses. Mid-City Transit, the bus company that provides transportation services to students in the district, has four all-electric buses in daily operation which are the first in the area. In last year’s state budget, New York became the first state to mandate that all school buses be electric powered by 2035.
The introduction of these first four buses, which required more than $1 million in upgrades, new buses, and related infrastructure in Middletown, was funded through a combination of company investment and a grant from the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program. A regionally based company, Elm Electric, in collaboration with Orange and Rockland Electric Utilities and Middletown-based Fusco Engineering and Land Surveying facilitated technical design and infrastructure installation.
Mid-City Transit is owned by Student Transportation of America (STA), one of the nation’s largest school bus service providers. Rachel Lane, STA’s Vice President of Electrification & Sustainability is leading the company’s Green Fleet Initiative.
“I am thrilled to see Mid-City Transit’s forward momentum toward zero emissions and of course, the state of New York’s continued support for a greener future. The Middletown City School District has been a great partner throughout this project, and we share the same goals when it comes to sustainability and progress,” said Lane.
“It’s definitely an exciting time for our scholars, school community, Mid-City Transit, and the EV industry,” said Amy Creeden, Superintendent of the Middletown City School District. “We are all happy to see the EV buses in the fleet’s rotation and serving our student routes already.
While supporters point to the environmental benefits of electrification of school buses, opponents have raised serious concerns about both the cost and reliability associated with this new mandate. The Empire Center, an Albany based independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank issued a full report on the electrification of the state’s school buses.
According to the Empire Center’s November 2022 report, replacing all of the state’s diesel-fuel school buses with electric buses will cost between $8 and $15.25 billion. Of that amount, less than $800 million may be available from a combination of state and federal sources. The report finds that this will leave school districts and private fleet operators who charge school districts for bus service on the hook for nearly 90 percent of the costs.
Besides costing more than twice that of a diesel powered school bus, reliability is a concern as well. Operators have expressed worry about battery life and vehicle performance in cold and hilly terrains.
“In its haste to meet an arbitrary deadline, New York risks significantly burdening its local school districts with the rush for electric school buses,” said James Hanley, Empire Center fellow and co-author of the report. “Instituting cleaner transportation options, especially for our children, is a noble and important goal. But most of the benefits that electric buses would bring can be achieved more cost-effectively by purchasing newer diesel models, retrofitting bus equipment or using alternative fuels.”
The buses that are operating in Middletown were paid for with grant and private funding, from Mid-City Transit. There is no additional cost to Middletown taxpayers associated with these vehicles.
Creeden is happy that Middletown has adopted the change early, and hopes the early start to the transition will allow the district to work out any kinks. “Transportation services are essential in our District and there’s something really great about knowing we have seen some early success as a result of the addition of the EV buses,” said Creeden. “It’s only been a few weeks, but the EV buses are proving to be efficient, environmentally friendly, and quieter [than the diesel buses] when driving around our neighborhoods.”
Check out our video to learn more about Middletown’s new electric school buses.
