Beverly To Get Second Electric Battery School Bus Through Grant

BEVERLY, MA — A second electric battery school bus is expected in Beverly through a state grant awarded to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Highland Electrical Transportation.

The Council announced on Monday it received state funding to examine expansion of the program that has one bus in the fleet through Highland Electric.

The MAPC is receiving $20,345 from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's Accelerating Transportation Now grant to explore ways of expanding the Beverly program and extend more electric bus use in other communities.

The MAPC said it will provide matching funds of $19,575 to look into ways to purchase the buses regionally to reduce costs to communities.

"MAPC has long been interested in transitioning diesel school buses to electric, which can significantly improve public health for children and families, among others, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," MAPC Deputy Director Rebecca Davis. "We are excited for this opportunity and hope that ... we can help to make battery electric buses more cost competitive and logistically feasible for Massachusetts cities and towns."

The MAPC said electric buses are currently cost prohibitive for most districts with an upfront coast more than three times that of a diesel-powered bus.

"Electric school buses will improve local air quality and save money for districts," Highland Electric Transportation CEO Duncan McIntyre said, "but to get there we need partners like MAPC to build on Beverly's leadership, creating industry standards, educating stakeholders, and establishing momentum across all communities in the Commonwealth."

More information on MassCEC's ACTNow program can be found here.