Back to School With Propane Buses

It’s back to school time and yellow buses are transporting students daily. In Virginia, Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) is kicking off the new school year with its impressive fleet of propane school buses. The district serves 26,500 students, with 24,000 students transported across 202 routes using 317 buses. This includes 153 Blue Bird Vision Propane models, which is nearly half its fleet.

Shay Coates, the transportation director, is a big supporter of propane buses and is proud of the district’s 20-year dedication to reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency. And the best part? The savings have had a huge impact on NNPS’s budget reporting fuel savings of $0.15 per mile and parts savings of $0.13 per mile, totaling an impressive annual saving of $952,000 for 2022-2023. Since 2017, the district has saved over $2 million, and that’s not even counting the savings from alternative fuel tax refunds.

Propane buses are helping to keep our environment cleaner by decreasing harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, which can lead to lung disease. The district’s propane buses are impressively 90% cleaner in NOx emissions compared to the EPA’s toughest standards and a staggering 99% cleaner than diesel buses made before 2007.

Not only are the propane buses good for the environment, but the district’s drivers and technicians also love them for their quiet operation and reduced likelihood of breakdowns.

Coates, who is committed to going 100% propane, encourages other districts to think about switching to propane buses, pointing out the huge financial and environmental advantages. Read more about NNPS’s propane bus fleet.
Over 1,000 districts are going back to school with advanced clean propane school buses this year.

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