Amanda school district to run two electric buses next school year in pilot project

AMANDA - The Amanda-Clearcreek Local School District will run a pilot program with two electric school buses the next school year on its 13 bus routes.

The district received $790,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2022 clean school bus rebate to help buy the Saf-T-Liner CR Jouley electric buses. The district also paid $40,000 for infrastructure for the buses.

"By receiving the grant it was a very, very low risk as far as trying the electric buses and seeing how they work in our district," Superintendent Timothy Edwards said. "There was less money that we had to put out for local funds to supplement what we were getting with the grant to make this project come to fruition than what we would have had to pay for two diesel buses."

Edwards said the electric buses have eight-year warranties for the batteries and such.

"We felt like we were safe trying this and it's a clean-energy solution," he said. "You don't hear it running and you don't smell some of the fumes. It's a good opportunity to try and see how it works and how the drivers like it and what the impact is with students."

Edwards said the electric buses look just like what a regular school bus looks like. He also said one of goals of the pilot program is to see how much money the district will save with electric buses.

As of now, the district expects to save almost $40,000 in diesel fuel and about $7,700 in maintenance costs by using the two electric buses.

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This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Amanda school district to run two electric buses in pilot project