WORCESTER – Federal, state and local officials gathered in Worcester on Monday to celebrate a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) to Worcester Public Schools (WPS) for $5.8 million which will fund the purchase of 15 electric school busess.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern joined Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, Mayor Joe Petty and City Manager Eric Batista at the event today. Also attending was the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bonnie Heiple, and EPA Regional Administrator David Cash.
The grant is federal funding through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program that was created in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Instrastructure Bill, which passed both houses of the U.S. Congress and was signed into law in November 2021 by President Joe Biden.
The current school year is the second which WPS has operated its own school bus transportation. It had previously worked with a contractor to operate the buses. Accord to the WPS, parent complaints related to busing dropped by 76 percent in the first year. The district also saved $3.5 million by operating the busing service in-house.
The purchase cost of an electric bus is about $400,000. A gasoline-powered bus costs about $130,000. However, according to the WPS, the maintenance costs of an electric bus us about $0.20 per mile, where a gas bus has maintenance costs of around $1 per mile.
The federal Clean School Bus Program prioritized districts in low-income, rural, and/or Tribal communities to make up approximately 86% of the projects selected for funding.
With the help of our federal and state partners, Worcester Public Schools is once again at the forefront of the evolution in school transportation,” said Rachel H. Monárrez, PhD, Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools. “Our district is now in its second year of having school bus operations completely in-house. Because of this, we can work with the EPA to reduce our carbon footprint. We are laying the foundation for a more environmentally friendly fleet that grows our economy and has a positive health impact on our community.”
