INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
STUDENT TRANSPORTERS WORKING WITH CLINTON FOUNDATION ON ‘ELECTRIFIED’ SCHOOL BUS PROJECT
An April New York Times article
titled “In Two-Way Charging, Electric Cars Begin to Earn Money From the Grid” caught the attention of task force members aligned with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) who are explor- ing how to expand “electrified” school buses nationwide. Two transportation directors who attended recent CGI School Bus Project meetings told STN they were invited because of their respective ex- perience with the eTrans fully electric school bus manufactured by Trans Tech Bus. John Clements, who recently retired as
transportation director at Kings Canyon Unified, located in California’s Central Val- ley, attended the May 7 meeting held at the South Coast Air Quality Management Dis- trict. Considered one of the alternative-fuel pioneers in the school bus industry, Clements left behind a fleet of vehicles (see photo)
that grid operators could draw small amounts of power from the buses when they are not being used. “Te goal is to have a reliable
source of battery-operated school bus- es that would help the grid operators maintain and regulate the frequency of the grid,” said Clements. “Tey are still exploring, but they’re further along than what I expected.” Wayne Johnston, transportation
director at the Springfield Township (Pa.) School District attended the April 25 task force meeting. He clar- ified the term “electrified” is preferred
powered by clean diesel, CNG and electricity, with several charge-sustaining hybrids and the eTrans.
Clements said the CGI folks are look- ing to assist school districts and school bus contractors in obtaining electric school buses that could be plugged into the power grid to stabilize the frequency. He explained
because there are also companies currently working on retrofitting vehicles to run on electric drives. “We who are in the trenches understand
this is worth investing in, but it’s our super- visors that need to understand. While it is a huge monetary investment, the more people buy (electric), the less it costs,” Johnston said.
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www.ewss.org | 10939B Reed Hartman Hwy. • Cincinnati, OH 45242 See Us At Booth #145 24 School Transportation News July 2013
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