ALBANY, N.Y. — Every single school bus in New York will have to be zero emissions by 2035 under a mandate set to pass as part of the state budget with $500 million in funding included in the Environmental Bond Act to help pay for the transition, according to two people familiar with the agreement.
Why it matters: The electric bus mandate, proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in her budget, targets the state's roughly 50,000 school buses that shuttle children every day to and from school, sports games and on field trips. Environmental groups have backed the proposal to reduce the air pollution from diesel vehicles that children and communities are exposed to.
"In planning to become the first state in the nation to deploy a fully electric school bus fleet, New York is giving the green light to school bus and charging infrastructure manufacturers to bring their cutting edge technologies and their benefits to New York's school children," said Ryan Gallentine, director of transportation policy at Advanced Energy Economy.