California Awarded $88 Million to Electrify School Buses

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) Jan. 8 announced that California was awarded $88 million to purchase electric buses across the state. The funding comes through the Environmental Protection Agency’s or EPA Clean School Bus Program, which was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and modeled after the Clean Commute for Kids Act that Padilla introduced in 2021. The clean school bus program will provide $5 billion over five years to support the transition to zero-emission and low-emission school buses.

Over 400,000 public school buses travel more than 4.3 billion miles each year to help 23.5 million children get to and from school, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Los Angeles Unified School District received 50 buses through the clean school bus program awards

Two third-party companies that contract with California school districts to provide bus services also received grants. Zum Services, Inc., received funding for buses for the Los Angeles Unified, San Francisco Unified, Alameda Unified, and Oakland Unified School Districts. First Student, Inc. received funding for buses for Long Beach Unified School District, Palm Springs Unified School District, Riverside Unified School District, Fallbrook Union, Orange County Department of Education, and Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Details: The full list of Clean School Bus Awards is available here.