ARLINGTON, Va. — Editor's Note: The video above covers a similar electric bus program in Montgomery County, Maryland.
The first fleet of electric school buses has hit the roads in Arlington.
According to a release from Arlington County, three new buses were purchased thanks to a nearly $800K grant from the state as part of the Clean School Bus Program. Nineteen school districts in Virginia received funding for battery-electric school buses (BESB) in 2019.
The EV school buses have the capacity to carry 65 passengers and are almost noise-free. Each bus is expected to log around 8,000 miles annually.
Two of the three buses were put into service this year.
Officials are expected to study data, driving and service experiences in order to determine if there is room for a possible expansion of the BESB inventory.
In Oct. 2022, nearly 400 school districts across the country received roughly $1 billion in funding to purchase 2,500 "clean" school buses under a new federal program. Only about 1% of the nation’s 480,000 school buses were electric as of 2021, but the push to abandon traditional diesel buses has gained momentum in recent years.
Arlington officials say the county has achieved its goal of 100% renewable electricity use at all County facilities, two years ahead of schedule.