Rural school districts across California take delivery of ultra-clean school buses funded by cap-and-trade proceeds
LONG BEACH — California
officials announced today at the 2018 ACT Expo in Long Beach that to
date the state had pumped more than $1.2 billion into projects that put a
growing number of zero-emission and low-carbon buses, trucks and cars
onto California’s roads and highways. Fully 48 percent of these
investments benefit low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods – those
most in need of improvements in air quality.
Standing
before an eLion electric school bus, the officials also highlighted a
new project to deliver dozens of these ultra-clean school buses to rural
school districts to ensure that the children and drivers in districts
away from California’s urban centers also benefit from the state’s
transition to low-carbon transportation.
“Thanks
to California Climate Investments, thousands of schoolkids in remote
school districts across California will be riding in the
cleanest-running school buses on the market,” CARB Vice Chair Sandy Berg
said. “This is one example of how these investment are changing
people’s lives and cleaning the air. To date, $1.2 billion is putting
hundreds of the cleanest cars, trucks and buses on our streets and
highways, with almost half of that benefitting the communities that need
it the most.”
California’s
rural and small school districts have some of the oldest,
dirtiest-running school buses in the state. The Rural School Bus Pilot
Project, administered by the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management
District, is helping to change that.
In
total, California Climate Investments will fund about 150 cleaner
school buses across the state. These include zero-emission battery
electric models and conventional models using renewable diesel. The
year-old Rural School Bus Pilot Project, which has received $25 million
in cap-and-trade funding, will fund as many as 60 of those new school
buses statewide in rural areas of the state, reducing 10,000 metric tons
of greenhouse gas emissions. About 40 of those school buses in rural
areas will be zero-emission battery electric.
Funding
for these clean transportation projects comes from California Climate
Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade
dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the
economy and improving public health and the environment — particularly
in disadvantaged communities.
Ultra-clean
school buses in rural districts represent just one of many projects
rolling out across California that are helping the state transition to a
clean transportation future. The investments support a wide range of
next-generation vehicles, including electric school buses in Sacramento,
electric yard trucks in Fontana, hydrogen-powered buses in the
Coachella Valley, and a fleet of electric delivery trucks for Goodwill
Industries in the Bay Area. About half of the investments are for
projects or vehicles that are in, or benefit, disadvantaged communities.
The
goal is to accelerate the market for the next generation of clean,
heavy-duty trucks and buses, both those that run on electricity and on
hydrogen. California Climate Investments are designed to help drive down
the upfront purchase price of the cleaner vehicles, and as their
numbers increase, that cost will drop even further due to economies of
scale.
The
state is also investing to support the market for zero-emission cars
including making them available to residents of low-income communities.
The
cap-and-trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries
to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce
pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable
housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission
vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture,
recycling and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are
made in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
California Climate Investments support projects throughout the state, benefiting communities, individuals and businesses. See profiles for 2018 and 2017.
Rural School Districts that have received electric school buses:
- Konocti Unified School District,
- Rescue Union School District,
- Palermo Union School District,
- Wilsona School District,
- Fall River Joint Unified School District,
- Oroville Union High School District, and
- Ukiah Unified School District
$1.2 Billion Cap-and-Trade Investments in California’s Zero-Emission Transportation Future*
Cleaner School Buses:
150 school buses*
Heavy-Duty Trucks:
48 class 7+8 heavy duty zero-emission trucks
Delivery, Utility, Trash Trucks:
1,057 delivery, utility and refuse trucks*
Utility Trucks* – 133
Hybrid Delivery and Refuse Trucks*– 842
Battery electric delivery trucks – 82
Transit:
438 zero-emission transit buses and shuttles
Transit Buses – 361
Shuttle Buses – 77
Cars:
166,817 Light-duty ZEVs and PHEVs (plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles)
Full battery electric cars – 101,091
Plug-in hybrid cars* – 62,455
Hydrogen fuel cell cars – 3,271
Off-Road, Cargo-Handling Equipment:
29 zero-emission yard trucks, fork lifts, cargo-handling equipment
Total funding for projects and vehicles benefiting disadvantaged communities: 48%
*Includes both zero- and near zero-emission technologies
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