November 2020

In a progressive, tech-focused city, Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) recognized an opportunity to reduce emissions and noise by replacing aging diesel school buses with propane autogas school buses. The district transports 9,100 students to 33 schools, two early learning schools and seven special programs via 141 routes each day. Operating in an urban area with narrow, hilly streets, the district needs to focus on school buses with a quiet ride and low emissions, while reducing fuel and maintenance costs.

Brunswick (Maine) School Department has added two new propane buses to its fleet. The Blue Bird Vision propane buses arrived at the district on Oct. 21 and hit the road for regular school routes on Oct. 30, Michelle Caron, Brunswick School Department’s director of transportation, told School Bus Fleet.

For the first time ever, more than 20,000 propane autogas buses were at the ready in public and private school districts across the United States at the start of the school year in 2020, according to new figures from the Propane Education & Research Council. This is a 10 percent increase from 2019 vehicle numbers and it’s also the first full school year with propane autogas buses in use by more than 1,000 school districts or contractors.

At first glance, the difference might go unnoticed. They’re long and yellow, just like the rest of the buses in the Wilson School District’s fleet. The wheels and windows and mirrors are identical, the lights and doors are the same. But above that folding door, where a black bird normally sits, that’s where the tell is. That bird, on the seven new buses the district hopes to have in service by mid-January, will be green. 

ROUSH CleanTech is providing Penske Truck Leasing with all-new Ford F-650 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) later this year for deployment across Southern California. “Penske has been expanding its battery-electric fleet for the past several years,” said Paul Rosa, senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning at Penske Truck Leasing. 

Brunswick School Department’s fleet of yellow school buses just got a little bit greener. On Friday, the department rolled out two new Blue Bird Vision propane autogas buses that officials hope will help pave the way for a more sustainable future. The buses were purchased from the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Settlement, in which the auto company agreed to help replace diesel buses. The carmaker paid for $78,120, or 80% of the $105,000 price tag of each bus, Superintendent Philip Potenziano said, totaling $156,240. 

Propane autogas school buses deliver on emission reductions, cost savings, safety and more. Here’s a quick lesson on the ABCs of this clean fuel that is used by over 1,000 school districts across the nation.