School District Plans to Purchase Electric Bus
Saying that the school district should support programs that positively affect the environment, trustees of Capistrano Unified have voted to purchase an electric school bus.
The district will pay $75,000 for the $150,000 vehicle, with the difference being funded through a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Even though it will cost almost twice as much as a gas-powered bus, trustees said, the electric vehicle’s operating costs will be 50% lower.
Electric buses have the same all-steel body construction as their gasoline-run counterparts. The vehicles, made by Blue Bird in connection with Westinghouse Electric, are powered by 230-horsepower electric motors that allow them to travel at 55 mph with a range of 80 miles.
School district spokeswoman Jackie Price said the plan is to have the electric bus within the next six months and to use it for the 1996-97 school year.
Capistrano Unified is not the only district in Orange County exploring alternative school transportation options, officials said.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District is also looking into electric buses, officials said, and Anaheim Union High School District is researching natural-gas-powered buses.
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