By this time next year — and welcome back to school! — I’m hoping that one or more school districts in Oregon will be joining the several dozen districts, spread all over the nation, already running one or more electric school buses. Consider that the state of South Carolina recently ordered its first 30 electric school buses. Ahem! Oregon! We can do this! 🙂
One way to predict who may go first in Oregon is to look at which cities have climate goals/plans. These would include Ashland, Beaverton, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Gresham, McMinnville, Milwaukie and Portland (let me know if I’ve missed someone). I’ve seen interest in electric school buses (ESB’s) from districts in some of these cities. Yet I’ve also seen interest from Grants Pass. And the district that’s done the most research, reconnaissance and planting of seeds around electric school buses, to my knowledge, is Salem-Keizer.
Salem-Keizer, maybe luckily, lies in Portland General Electric (PGE) territory. PGE is working to decarbonize, which is groundbreaking within the utility world. Electrifying our cars, buses and trucks is a powerful way to decarbonize, also to improve people’s health, due to zero emissions from tailpipes. Children’s lungs are especially vulnerable to the diseases triggered and worsened by diesel exhaust.
PGE has worked closely with TriMet and SMART in Wilsonville to launch Oregon’s first electric transit buses. Experience is super-valuable, in utilities and bus organizations alike, since electrifying is hard. Yet while PGE has an approved plan to fund two school districts in its territory for two ESB’s each plus the needed charging infrastructure, I see no such program posted yet on its website. If it’d be reliant on PGE for its initial funding, Salem-Keizer may not necessarily be going first in Oregon.
Which leads me to a school district known for transportation innovation and leadership, Eugene. I caught up this week with Chris Ellison, Eugene school district’s transportation director and also the president of Oregon Pupil Transportation Association. I asked Chris, “If you could get a distilled version of the lessons-learned and best practices around electric school buses, I mean from everyone around the country who’s already gone first, would you be willing to go first in Oregon?”
“Propane is not the future,” Chris added. He was referring to the fact that his and many other Oregon districts run part of their fleets on propane. “And I’d need to get EWEB on board”. Eugene Water and Utility Board (EWEB) is his district’s utility. “That’s smart!” I said. Partnering early on with your utility is crucial.
I asked about social equity, one best practice being to deploy ESB’s first into neighborhoods with the worst air quality. “Equity is a major concern for Eugene SD,” Chris replied, adding however that with fairly uniform air quality throughout Eugene, mileage and terrain would determine the routes of his future ESB’s.
“How about gathering the input of minority stakeholders on your ESB program?” I asked. Chris thought not, noting he did plan to engage those directly involved with the procurement and maintenance of the eventual electric buses. He added that he values stakeholder input, but sees ESB’s as “an all-around win-win for everyone”.
Alison Wiley (she/her/hers)
I am on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Chinook and Cowlitz peoples.Whose land are you on?