Providence schools officially welcome four new electric buses

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Providence Public School District has officially welcomed four new all-electric school buses to join their fleet.

Officials with PPSD said the addition of the electric buses will help to make the state and the school district more sustainable.

“The benefits of electric buses are clear, better air quality for our kids and our communities, reduced fuel costs and more American manufacturing,” said Senator Jack Reed, noting that the busses were constructed in the United States.

Starting Tuesday, hundreds of students attending public schools in Providence will ride the electric buses to and from school.

First Student, the transportation partner of PPSD contributed four electric buses to the district, marking the first electric school busses in the Ocean State.

“To have our students to be able to feel like they are not on the lagging end instead on the leading edge of something that is so important. If you want to find out how important climate justice is, no one is more enthusiastic about it because no one will be more impacted than our young people,” said Providence’s Mayor, Brett Smiley at Monday’s unveiling.

According to First Student, just one electrified bus can reduce 3.75lbs of carbon dioxide from gas emissions for every mile driven.

The funding for the buses came from the American Rescue Plan’s electric school bus rebates program.