First Student receives $200 million in third EPA school bus funding round

US-based school transportation provider First Student has received $200 million in rebates from the third round of funding of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.

The new funding brings First Student’s total program awards to $401 million across the three funding rounds. This round will enable the company to deploy up to an additional 670 electric school buses in 45 school districts across the US, bringing the total from all three EPA rounds to over 1,200 buses.

The Clean School Bus Program allocates funds for school districts to help cover the cost of replacing fossil fuel school buses with zero-emission vehicles and associated charging infrastructure. First Student works directly with school districts on electrifying their bus fleets, collaborating with them on the applications to the EPA and then deploying and maintaining the vehicles once they are in service.

The company has deployed over 350 electric buses across North America and has also been awarded approximately $65 million through other federal, state and utility programs in the US and Canada to electrify school bus fleets.

“First Student electric school buses funded by this program are already creating safer and cleaner rides to and from school and these investments mean expanding that benefit to even more districts,” said First Student Head of Electrification Kevin Matthews. “School districts can put these awards to use right away, turning these rebates into much-needed fleet upgrades.”

Source: First Student

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