Blue Bird Corporation, an electric and low-emission school bus supplier, will deliver 20 electric school buses to Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) in Florida. With more than 335,000 students and 50,000 adult learners, the purchase supports the school district’s commitment to shift to clean student transportation and lower its greenhouse gas emissions.
Each bus can carry 72 students for up to 120 miles on a single charge, and the buses will take approximately six hours to recharge fully. M-DCPS will partner with Florida Power & Light to install 50 DC fast charging stations, ten of which will be installed at the school district’s Southwest Transportation Facility.
Funding for the Blue Bird electric, zero-emission school buses was provided by a $11.6 million grant from Florida’s Volkswagen Mitigation Settlement Trust fund.
“This pilot program is a wonderful first step in the electrification of Miami-Dade’s fleet and improving the air quality for its students and the community at-large,” said Britton Smith, president of Blue Bird Corporation. “As the leader in zero- and low-emission school buses, we could not be more pleased to help a long-term and highly valued customer transition to electric buses and clean student transportation.”
