Montgomery County has added 61 additional electric school buses to the school system’s fleet, making it the largest in the country.
On October 24, Montgomery County and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced that it procured an additional 61 electric school buses. County Executive Marc Elrich noted on Twitter “That gives the school district the largest electric bus fleet in the nation, with an expected 326 electric buses by 2025.”According to a press release, the use of electric buses will reduce fuel costs, as well as the school system’s overall carbon footprint. Currently, according to MCPS, on a typical school day, MCPS diesel buses use approximately 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel. The school district has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its bus fleet to 80% by 2027 and 100% by 2035. One step in doing so is expanding its electric bus fleet.
“Moving to electric transportation is not only a necessary response to climate change, but it is also something students have asked for at Board of Education meetings,” said Board of Education President Brenda Wolff. “My Board colleagues and I are pleased to support this effort and thank all MCPS staff who work to support environmental sustainability in the school system.”
The electric bus initiative is being implemented through a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets to upgrade 326 school buses to electric by 2025. The collaboration will deliver cleaner, healthier transportation for students and local communities and support electric grid reliability with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services and the nation’s first use of electric school buses to provide synchronized energy reserves.
