T
hey say time marches on, and that’s un- doubtedly true for the movement toward transitioning to electric school buses. With the feds offering up to $5 billion to
bring zero-emission and low-emission models online, change that was already happening is accelerating. Around the country, school districts are now supple- menting existing fleets with new electric vehicles. At the same time, transportation leaders are finding
that the capabilities offered by GPS and telematics mesh nicely with the new additions. Certainly, and regardless of the type of vehicle
power, GPS has already been proven to be a valuable tool. From helping identify the most economical routes to fostering driver accountability, the informa- tion generated by GPS provides broad-based support for efficient operations. “Use of GPS allows you to more accurately route and
re-route buses on the fly if needed,” said Sean Leach, director of technology and platform management at Highland Electric Fleets, which uses telemetry pro- vided by Zonar Systems. “It allows you to see how well you’re utilizing your fleet, and if it’s time to scale up your fleet, or scale it down.” While GPS on its own is a valuable tool, it’s not
enough just to know where a bus is located, noted Antonio Civitella, president and CEO of Transfinder. “GPS is a road map. I like to call it the breadcrumbs,” he said. “But by combining GPS with telematics, you get actionable data.” For electric vehicles, perhaps the most important
information is the state of charge of a given vehi- cle, Leach said. “This is critical to making sure that vehicles are always adequately charged and ready for operations.” That’s been a welcome feature at Bethlehem Central School District in Delmar, New York, explained Karim Johnson, director of student transportation and fleet services. Bethlehem operates five electric buses out of a total fleet of 103 vehicles, with a sixth pending deliv- ery. According to New York State law, school districts must purchase only zero-emission school buses start- ing in 2027, and all school buses operated in the state must be zero-emissions by 2035. “For EV buses, GPS/telematics have been able to
provide the state of charge in real time and provide notifications when buses have not taken a charge after a period of time,” he noted, adding that in some cases, charging data can come into play in dealing with the unexpected.
“Being able to be proactively notified of an anom- alous route allows you to be ready for all of the
22 School Transportation News • MAY 2023
When implementing new technology, 53% of 121 transportation directors/ supervisors, said they implemented it fleetwide, all at once. Whereas, 26% implemented new tech a couple buses at a time, and 21% have not implemented new technology within the past five years.
13% have at least one electric school bus in their fleet (Out of 121 responses to a recent magazine reader survey.)
Of those with electric school buses, 63% have implemented software for charge optimization.
The 16 transportation directors/ supervisors with ESBs stated that they are concerned about driving an electric bus on field/athletic trips and not having a place to charge mid-trip. Meanwhile, one respondent said they’ve partnered with other districts/companies to use their electric chargers, when needed.
100% of transportation directors/ supervisors stated that aside from the bus dealer, they have no other options in their area to service an electric bus.
63% said they or their staff have experienced an electric bus that was thought to be charging only to later find out the batteries were dead. (Out of 16 responses.)
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