Why it matters
Clean school buses funded by the state are expected to reduce 18,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually — equivalent to taking more than 4,000 cars off the road for a year. Over 70% of the zero-emission school buses in use are in California’s most pollution-burdened communities.
While trucks total just 6% of vehicles on California’s roads, they account for over 35% of the state’s transportation emissions. Clean vehicles purchased through HVIP are helping to significantly cut emissions statewide, with 340+ million miles logged since the start of the program. while.
Investing in clean school buses
The Zero-Emissions School Bus and Infrastructure (ZESBI) project has selected 133 educational agencies to receive 1,000 zero-emission school buses and related charging infrastructure in rural, low-income, and disadvantaged school districts and other local educational entities. The grants are expected to be finalized by the end of the year. A map of awardees can be viewed here.
“Cleaning up the state’s school bus fleet is central to California’s efforts to provide clean transportation in priority communities that are disproportionately hurt by air pollution,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph. “The vast majority of these grants will go to local educational agencies that serve these communities.”
To date, California has provided more than $1.3 billion in incentives to school districts, funding more than 2,300 zero-emission school buses, of which 1,100 are already in use. More than 300 California school districts and local education agencies have purchased at least one zero-emission school bus – and a few have made the switch to a 100% clean fleet.
“California has set important benchmarks for removing internal combustion vehicles from our roads and replacing them with clean transportation,” said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. “CEC is helping school districts move in that direction by funding ZESBI.”
Zero-emission school buses play a key role in California’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and help protect children who are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts from diesel exhaust. In California, all school bus purchases made by school districts will need to be zero-emission technology by 2035, with an extension until 2045 for frontier local educational agencies in rural communities.
Incentivizing clean trucks and buses
Over 15 years, the state’s Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) invested $754 million, helping 2,000 fleets deploy 10,000 clean trucks and buses. These vehicles have logged 340+ million miles while significantly cutting emissions statewide. Over 5,000 HVIP-funded ZEVs are in production to meet surging demand.
HVIP is a CARB program administered by CALSTART, a nonprofit transportation organization. Sales of new zero-emission trucks, buses and vans doubled in 2023 over the previous year, representing one out of every six new vehicles sold for services including last-mile delivery, freight transportation, and school buses. 16,327 charging and hydrogen fueling points for zero-emission trucks and buses are installed across the state.
