Southfield schools adds 20 electric buses to their fleet
Southfield public schools adds electric buses to fleet
Multiple electric school buses are parked at Southfield Public Schools Transportation Center. They also have charging stations set up to prepare for when these buses leave this lot and get on the road.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Southfield Public Schools are receiving a new fleet of electric school buses.
Big picture view:
Multiple electric school buses are parked at Southfield Public Schools Transportation Center. They also have charging stations set up to prepare for when these buses leave this lot and get on the road.
Southfield Public Schools will get a total of 20 electric school buses. It’s all thanks to a close to $4 million grant from the state and federal level. The district says this will be a game changer when it comes to improving operations and keeping students safe.
It’s also working with the Southfield Fire Department, helping them get familiar with the new fleet so that they know how to respond in case of an emergency.
"This helps us provide a more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly way to transport our students to school. It is a benefit to our students because they don’t have as many gases and fumes that may be in the environment that they’re breathing in during the day, as well as our community," said Chief of Staff of Southfield Public Schools, James Jackson.
"So EVs are not something that’s brand new to us as a department, but specific to the buses. Again, with that partnership we have with Southfield Public Schools, we are actually going to bring a bus over to our training facility, so all three of our shifts can rotate through and kind of see the new features of it and learn how to disable the batteries where the batteries are stored. In a fire, we need to make sure we cool those batteries off, so knowing how they can access them and some of the other safety systems," said Deputy Fire Chief Jason Deneau.
What's next:
The district plans to roll out the new electric buses before the end of the school year.