Soon, the whole world will have eyes on southern California for the 2028 Olympics. With Orange County set to host indoor volleyball and surfing events, the region is preparing to make an impression on the largest audience possible. And now, as an advocate who believes that everyone has the right to a healthy environment, there’s a new reason to be excited: the recent announcement that transportation for the games will be supported by southern California’s growing fleet of electric school buses, showcasing our leadership in clean, equitable transportation.
Thanks to the work of advocates and state leaders, Orange County is already a leader in replacing polluting, fossil-fuel powered school buses with clean, electric buses. Already, there are more than 60 electric school buses on the road in the county through programs like the state’s Zero Emission School Bus and Infrastructure (ZESBI) Program. But despite this progress, only around six percent of Orange County school buses are electric. State lawmakers have an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to bring clean-running electric school buses to all our communities by allocating additional funding through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. I strongly urge them to do so.
Around 40% of Orange County’s school buses are powered by diesel fuel. It’s well-established that exhaust from these diesel-burning school buses is unsafe for everyone. Studies link it to physical health issues like asthma, cancer and brain development problems, putting students’ health and academic achievement at risk. Put simply, diesel is too dangerous for our children and our communities.
Thankfully, current electric school bus models, with ranges of 100-300 miles, are ready to meet the moment. Electric school buses are now operating in several Orange County communities, including Orange Unified School District, Anaheim Elementary, Anaheim Union High, Centralia Elementary, Garden Grove Unified School District, Savanna Elementary and more. Two more districts, Newport-Mesa Unified and Saddleback Valley Unified, have committed to bringing them into their fleets.
And while we know they’re better for our kids, electric school buses can help school budgets too. In fact, research shows that an electric school bus can cost around $100,000 less to operate over its lifetime than a comparable diesel school bus. That means that with funding and financing available to help offset the purchase price, electric school buses can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less to own and operate than diesel-burning school buses.
What’s more, new data from World Resources Institute shows that Orange County alone stands to realize over $18 million every year in health and climate benefits by using electric school buses rather than diesel-burning school buses.
These efforts to cut costs and reduce pollution benefit us all, but they’re especially important for those who face higher rates of air pollution. Nationally, people of color have disproportionately higher exposure to on-road air pollution. Black students, children with disabilities and low-income students all rely on diesel-burning school buses more than others. And asthma rates are worse in communities of color, who are often affected by multiple forms of pollution.
California is leading the way on investing in electric school buses as an answer. The ZESBI Program has made a critical downpayment on the state’s transition to electric school buses. But it wasn’t enough—demand for the program greatly exceeded the available funding. It’s clear that more support is needed for school districts in removing a daily source of pollution exposure for students and meeting the state’s requirement for all new school bus purchases to be fully electric by 2035.
That is why I am calling for lawmakers to allocate additional resources from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for school bus electrification. As the iconic yellow school bus—now modern and electric—takes the international stage at the Olympics, let’s ensure all school bus riders, in Orange County and across California, share in the opportunity of a clean, healthy ride.
Joe Versen is an environmental and health advocate who lives in Pasadena. He is a Communications Specialist for World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative.
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