Lehigh Valley’s First Electric School Buses to Hit the Road

The Bethlehem Area School District has purchased two electric buses to

help reduce its fleet’s carbon emissions and in doing so become the first district in the Lehigh Valley to add EV buses to its transportation lineup.

A news release from state Sen. Lisa Boscola’s (D-18) office touted her role in securing a $1 million grant for the buses.

“I could not be more excited to be a stone’s throw away from my alma mater, Freedom High School, to celebrate the start of a new era of transportation for the Bethlehem Area School District,” Boscola said. “Our students win, our taxpayers win and our environment wins with a steady transition away from diesel buses to electric buses.”

“While moving to electric school buses makes sense, they are not cheap,” she added. “I didn’t believe local taxpayers should bear the entire burden of this new opportunity, which is why I wanted to direct some state dollars to help the school district with the project.”

The $1 million grant was funded through the PA Department of Education’s Job Training and Education Programs Grant, according to the news release.

“Bethlehem Area School District is proud to be the first school district in the Lehigh Valley to put EV buses on the road and we cannot thank Senator Boscola more for her leadership in this accomplishment,” said BASD superintendent Dr. Jack Silva. “We see the future in an electric bus fleet and today we take another step in forward in achieving that goal, which will bring about dramatic reductions in vehicle exhaust.”

The Bethlehem Area School District is the sixth-largest school district in the state, covering an area of more than 42 square miles and serving over 100,000 residents spread across five municipalities in two different counties.

“A substantial portion of (BASD’s) students ride buses to and from school, athletic events and field trips, so working to responsibly convert these diesel buses to EV’s just made sense,” Boscola said.

This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.