State of Electric School Buses

Introduction

Each year, more than 490,000 school buses shuttle children back and forth across the United States –to school, field trips, sporting events and more. As most of these buses burn diesel fuel, children and drivers are exposed to harmful pollutants that are linked to asthma, other health issues and cognitive development problems.

Conversely, electric school buses have zero tailpipe emissions, and therefore offer a cleaner, healthier alternative to diesel buses. This report finds the number of these zero-emission vehicles are growing in school districts around the country, thanks in part to big investments from Congress and states to transition to electric school buses. 

Federal Funding

As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress authorized up to $5 billion to help school districts transition to electric school buses via the Clean School Bus Program (CSBP). The program provides grant and rebate funding opportunities to school districts, nonprofit school transportation associations and tribal organizations to replace older, diesel buses with newer, electric or low-emission models.  

The first round of funding applications under the new program solicited applications from May through August 2022, and the EPA received approximately 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for 12,000 buses. Due to the high demand, the agency nearly doubled its initial $500 million rebate pool. The awards for that round of funding are shown below. 

2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards

Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24

In 2023, the EPA opened a second funding opportunity through the 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program, which provided grants rather than the previous rebate. Winners were selected based on their applications and prioritizing high need and rural school districts. 

2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program Awards

Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Grant Awards as of 8/15/24

In September 2023 a third round of funding opened in the form of a rebate. On May 29th, the EPA announced awards for the 2023 rebates, shown in the table below. 

2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards

Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24

The Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Grant Program

The Inflation Reduction Act sets aside $1 billion to fund the transition to zero-emission heavy duty vehicles including zero-emission Class 6 or Class 7 school buses via the Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles (CHDV) Grant Program. This program was open to other heavy duty electric vehicles in addition to Class 6 and 7 school buses, including dump trucks, transit buses, delivery trucks and others. Applications for grants opened in April 2024, and the application period closed in July 2024. Information about awards for the CHDV program will be posted on the EPA Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle Program website. 

The EPA plans to notify grantees in November 2024 and award the grants in February 2025. 

State Funding

In addition to the EPA’s monumental investment in the transition to electric school buses, states from across the country have adopted legislation of their own to support school districts in replacing older diesel buses with cleaner electric ones. 

Below is a list of the top 10 states based on the total state and federal funding dedicated to electric school buses as of May 29, 2024.*

*Data from Atlas Public Policy, accurate through May 29, 2024. Does not include dollars from the 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program that were categorized as a mix of fuel types.

A complete list of states ranked by public funding for electric school buses can be found in Appendix A. 

Number of electric school buses by state

Using data from the World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Dashboard, the following table shows the status of total committed electric school buses (ESBs), awarded ESBs, ordered ESBs, delivered or operating ESBs, and the number of students riding ESBs for each state. The World Resources Institute considered electric school buses “committed” while in any of the four stages of adoption: awarded, ordered, delivered or operating — so long as “a school district or fleet operator has been awarded funding to purchase it or makes a formal agreement to purchase to purchase it from a manufacturer — not when they have only expressed intent to acquire one.”

At the time the data was collected in May 2024, 48 states had electric school buses delivered or in operation, with the exceptions of Wyoming and Idaho. 

As of August 1, 2024, the top states for committed electric school buses are listed below:

Top 10 states for committed electric school buses as of 8/1/2024

Source: Electric School Bus Data Dashboard, State ESB Adoption tab, World Resources Institute, data accessed 8/1/24

States with the fewest committed electric school buses included Delaware, Alaska and Wyoming. For a complete ranking of committed electric school buses by state, see Appendix B. 

Appendix A

Appendix B

Committed Electric School Buses Ranked by State as of 8/1/24 

Source: Electric School Bus Data Dashboard, State ESB Adoption tab, World Resources Institute, data accessed 8/1/24

Appendix C

Committed electric school buses by state alphabetical as of 8/1/2024

Source: Electric School Bus Data Dashboard, State ESB Adoption tab, World Resources Institute, data accessed 8/1/24