Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down on his commitment to reduce carbon and air pollution from vehicles by announcing that school buses in New York City will be electric by 2035.
In partnership with the City, the NYC School Bus Umbrella Corporation (NYCSBUS), an independent non-profit that will manage school bus operations, is pursuing aggressive goal of having an all-electric school bus fleet by 2030 and becoming a model for electrified urban pupil transportation.
Through a partnership with NYCSBUS, the City will purchase 75 accessible electric school buses in the next two years to advance this goal, and as part of the 960 buses they will manage.
The transition from a diesel school bus fleet to an all-electric fleet will have significant climate, health and cost-saving impacts: The new fleet will reduce 30% of carbon emissions from school buses, remove enough air pollution citywide to avoid two premature deaths each year, reduce asthma emergency department visits and respiratory and cardiac hospitalizations, and save about $18 million in health care costs.
Emissions from all cars, buses, and trucks make up about 30% of the city’s carbon footprint.
The air pollution from that traffic contributes to 320 premature deaths and 870 emergency department visits annually, with the highest concentration of pollution occurring in low income neighborhoods.
Reducing dependence on cars by utilizing alternative modes of transportation coupled with wide scale adoption of electric vehicles where cars are needed is a critical component of the City’s plan to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050 and deliver a just transition to a green economy.
To support adoption of electric vehicles citywide and advance the City’s goal of ensuring EVs comprise 20 percent of new vehicle registrations by 2025, the City also announced plans to update to Local Law 130.
The expansion will require all parking facilities to include electric vehicle chargers for at least 20 percent of parking spaces. Additionally, new parking lots will have electric service capacity at all parking spaces to add chargers without needing new conduit or to resurface the facility. We are also working towards having electric service capacity for at least 40 percent of parking spaces at existing parking facilities. ■