Pittsburgh Public Schools debuts first electric school buses
Pittsburgh Public Schools announced a major development in how they get kids to and from school.
The district has welcomed its first electric school buses.
The debut of these new electric buses is just the beginning of a vanguard of the fleet that's soon to be driving around Pittsburgh picking up students.
"Today, we're putting into operation 16 electric school buses," said Kevin Matthews, Head of Electrification for First Student.
First Student is the district's transportation contractor.
"This afternoon we start the project to bring in 45 additional electric school busses," Matthews said.
The buses are powered by electric motors and have regenerative braking that transforms the heat and energy from the buses' brakes and produces more electricity to increase range.
"These type-A buses, their range is typically 80 miles on a single charge," Matthews said.
The big buses that haven't arrived can drive between 80 and 140 miles.
"The bus is pretty, but it's the infrastructure that makes it all work."
That infrastructure is these high-power charging stations installed by Duquesne Light.
"This project took a little over a year with the First Student to get the power required to serve these charging stations here," said Sarah Olessak, Director of Electrification for Duquesne Light.
The district and First Student say they plan on having their full fleet of large and small battery-powered buses up and in service in the next 14 months.
"Every mile driven by these buses moves Pittsburgh to a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable city," said Dr. Wayne N. Walters, superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools.
