Image: California Air Resource BoardNew York State has granted school districts more time to prepare for the transition to electric school buses. Under Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, the state has revised the original deadlines. School districts were initially required to purchase only electric school buses from 2027 onwards, but the state has now postponed that deadline to 2032. New York has also extended the deadline for fully electrifying school bus fleets from 2035 to 2040.According to media reports, school districts have expressed growing unease about the switch to battery-electric buses, citing high costs and additional operational challenges. The previous schedule was reportedly so stringent that ‘local officials said they were not ready to meet’ the timeline, as noted by Government Technology.The original timeline was adopted in 2022. The state planned to phase out diesel and petrol school buses entirely to improve the health and safety of the 1.5 million pupils who use school buses every day, as well as bus drivers, technicians and communities across the state.Under the Environmental Bond Act, which was also passed in 2022, the government allocated $500 million in funding to support school districts and contracted fleet operators in electrifying their school bus fleets.govtech.com, news10.com
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