Going Electric
The Province of BC has several incentives in place for both community members and provincial agencies to benefit from when going to Electric Vehicles (EVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), as well as other low emission vehicles. This has been put in place to support the CleanBC Go Electric Program.
The School District Transportation Department Fleet Management Division has participated in going electric with some of our lighter service vehicles and the Facilities Department is installing electric plug-in stations throughout the district at selected school sites. We currently have 15 private/public (level 2) EV chargers throughout the district and 3 (level 2) chargers for our 3 KIA vehicles dedicated to our IT Department and SBO staff. We will continue to take advantage of the incentive programs offered as the demand for charging stations increases at sites. To put it into perspective, charging stations at WA Fraser, Eugene Reimer, Colleen and Gordie Howe and Abby Middle have eliminated 6,6167 kg of greenhouse gas emissions over the past year. This is like planting 158 trees and letting them grow for 10 years. Our goal is to have a dual, level 2 chargers installed at every site within the next 5 years.
As for the Bussing Department, it is an exciting time as we look forward to researching and investing in electric vehicles for our bus fleet. Each year, Transportation Departments across the province participate in a review of their fleet that tracks mileage and age of buses in the interest of life cycling newer buses to replace older, less efficient buses. Recently, some districts have met the requirements for replacements and are beginning to procure electric buses. Although just a limited number of buses have been purchased by districts across our Province, manufacturers are aggressively trying to increase their numbers throughout North America. Abbotsford School District will be interested in going electric for future bus replacements.
The Province of BC has communicated with several agencies to include the Association of School Transportation Services of BC (ASTSBC), Electric and Alternate Energy Division – Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and the Ministry of Education and Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB). Together, these departments will assist us in progressing to an Electric bus fleet upon meeting the annual life cycle threshold replacement criteria. CIB has established the ZEB program (zero-emission bus) which assists the Ministry of Education in getting ahead of the curve by providing an alternative funding option when considering going to an electric bus fleet. This is a comprehensive program which involves monitoring the SD’s current fleet while comparing a ZEB, helping both the CIB and the SD decide on the best way to finance the program. We will be exploring various options (other than ZEBs) as there is some concern for the mileage range that a ZEB can provide day today.
At present, we do not expect that our district will be eligible to participate in the replacement program until possibly the 2023-24 school year. This is due to our fleet being relatively young and our buses not yet meet the program requirements. Fortunately, this will allow us the time needed to do the research and to collaborate with other districts to find the best EV solution for our districts’ bus fleet.
Exciting times ahead!