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leet managers weighing the health benefits and costs of “green” buses face a complex inter- section of perspectives from industry leaders who point to dramatic gains in cleaner diesel
technology to public health proponents who advocate for zero- and low-emission vehicles to peers who are already balancing policy mandates with real-world constraints and to parents who have their own high expectations for the emissions produced by the vehicles carrying their children to and from school. One point of agreement: Today’s school buses repre-
sent a dramatic improvement from their predecessors. Ray Minjares, the heavy-duty vehicles program
director with the International Council on Clean Trans- portation, said school buses represent a small share of the transportation market, but carry an outsized impact when it comes to children’s health. “We care about them because our future is carried on those buses—our children,” Minjares explained. “We care about their safety and their health.” Minjares said the industry has made significant
progress in reducing diesel emissions over the past two decades, particularly following federal regulations. “What changed in 2007 and 2010 was that manufactur-
ers were required to install new emission control systems,” he said, pointing to technologies like diesel particulate filters (DPFs) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Those advancements have delivered dramatic reduc-
tions in harmful pollutants. “Diesel particulate filters can reduce black carbon
emissions by about 99 percent,” Minjares said. “That has been a tremendous success story.” However, Minjares cautioned that these systems are not perfect over time. “They perform best on day one, but they deteriorate,” he said. “If they’re not properly maintained, they can lose effectiveness or even stop controlling emissions altogether.” Maintaining those emissions reductions requires co-
ordination across multiple stakeholders, he added. “It’s the responsibility of fleet managers to follow prop- er maintenance and use the right fuel,” Minjares said. “But it’s also the responsibility of manufacturers to meet standards and regulators to enforce them.” That shared accountability is critical to ensuring re-
al-world emissions match what regulations intend. Craig Beaver, the retiring administrator of trans-
portation for the Beaverton School District in Oregon, began his transportation career years ago in the trucking industry in California, raising awareness of smoke-belching vehicles. By the time he moved into school bus transportation in 2001, the first generation of
40 School Transportation News • JUNE 2026
particulate filters were already in use. As hardware evolved and improved, Beaver said the
arrival of renewable fuels represented another big break- through in the effort to reduce emissions. Yet biofuels came with their own growing pains as blends had to be properly calibrated to avoid fouling engines. The 2024 STN Transportation Director of the Year
Beaver said the conversation around green buses often takes on its greatest meaning through the perspectives of families, especially those with firsthand experience of poor air quality. In particular, he noted that immigrant parents fre-
quently bring a heightened awareness of environmental and health concerns. “They’re often the ones who ask about air quality,”
Beaver said, explaining that many come from parts of the world where pollution is more visible and more di- rectly felt in daily life. For those families, he suggested, the issue is not theo-
retical. “They’ve lived in places where air quality is a real, everyday concern,” he said. “So, when they see efforts to reduce emissions, it resonates with them in a very personal way.” That perspective can shape how school districts
approach fleet decisions, not just as operational or reg- ulatory matters but as part of their relationship with the community. “It builds trust,” Beaver said. “Parents want to know that
you’re doing everything you can to protect their children.” At the same time, Beaver emphasized that fleet man- agers must constantly balance those expectations with practical realities. “This is still about getting kids to school safely and
reliably every day,” he said. “You’re managing budgets, staffing, maintenance and routes. Those responsibilities don’t go away. It’s not just about what’s newest or what sounds best. It’s about what works for your district, your resources and your community. Like Beaver, Matt Berlin, chief executive officer of
New York City School Bus Umbrella Services, sees the transition to cleaner technologies as important, but not one-size-fits-all. Berlin describes himself and his team as “electric evangelists,” who are also grounded by re- al-world constraints. “The drivers love the buses because they’re quiet, they
smell less and the mechanics love working on them,” Berlin said. “They see this as the future.” Still, he is quick to point out that electrification in New
York City is driven by a mix of policy, practicality and experience—not idealism alone. “Our motivation is really threefold,” he explained. “One, it’s the law. We’re required to electrify by 2035. Two, the
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