Electric school buses (ESBs) offer a significant range of opportunities in Ontario for realizing benefits related to air pollutants and human health, climate change mitigation, and economic development. A diesel school bus emits roughly 82 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) over its 12-year expected lifespan, and up to four times more CO2 per kilometre than conventional passenger vehicles. The diesel engines that power most school buses emit harmful air pollutants which pose significant threats to health and well-being. School bus operators should take advantage of existing federal financial incentives to reduce the total cost of ownership of electric school buses and start electrifying their fleet.
Pollution Probe’s Electric School Bus Strategy for Ontario was created to accelerate ESB adoption in Ontario by firstly exploring the environmental, social and economic opportunities ESBs offer the Province, and secondly by laying out a series of priority actions that can be led concurrently and consecutively by key stakeholder groups.
What can readers find in this comprehensive ESB strategy?
- It examines all the potential benefits of ESBs – environmental, social, and economic.
- It provides a detailed breakdown of the ESB landscape in Ontario, including a description of the current Ontario school bus fleet and business model, the health and climate change benefits of ESBs, ESB manufacturing capacity and opportunities in the electric vehicle supply chain, and recommendations on how to promote ESB uptake in Ontario.
- The report provides a matrix of actions that encompass funding, pilot programs, training schemes and transition resources to support the transition to ESBs in Ontario.