Electric Buses Hit the Road at LPS
LPS students have a new way to get around town this year: the district’s first all-electric school buses! The buses are now running routes across LPS, providing many students with a safe, reliable and energy-efficient ride to school.
LPS received $815,000 through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program in 2024. The funds allowed the district to replace three older school buses with fully electric ones in the latest step towards a more sustainable transportation system.
To better understand day-to-day operations on the road, we sat down with two school bus drivers who have used the electric buses on their routes this year.
Greg Wright has been driving school buses at LPS for eight years, and started driving electric as a pilot tester for the new buses. So far, he hasn’t come across any downsides to making the switch to electric.
“There’s nothing about my daily existence in this job that is worse because of it. There are some things that are better,” he said.
Wright noted that, in particular, the electric buses have proven more consistent and reliable compared to the diesel models he used to drive.
“I’ve had very, very few issues, and nothing that mandated that I needed to switch buses for the day,” he said. “That’s kind of a big deal for me.”
Fellow bus driver Dan Smith echoed Wright’s thoughts on the electric buses’ dependability, even on a single or partial charge.
“I can do my route — the whole route — in one charge,” Smith said. “[It’s] better than going over the gas pump three or four times a week, which is a pain.”
Smith has served as an LPS bus driver for five years, and started driving electric after it was recommended to him when his previous bus broke down.
This ability to charge each electric bus at its own dedicated station has also emerged as a significant advantage.
“It can’t be overstated how great it is that we don’t have to deal with the gas pumps at all,” Wright said.
"I swipe my card, plug it in and go."
LPS students also benefit from the electric buses, which are much quieter and produce no tailpipe emissions. Smith said that many of the students he drives each day have also been excited about riding in the new buses, and that teachers and paras have reacted positively so far, too.
“It’s pretty cool, you know, they’re glad to see LPS is actually thinking forward,” he said.
The electric buses have provided a comfortable, efficient, and sustainable experience for both students and drivers alike. We are excited to see these buses continue to provide environmentally friendly transportation for students for the rest of this year and many more to come!
