A new school bus on Gervais Street in downtown Columbia on Thursday. The State government purchased 342 new school buses, the first such purchase since 2008. Each new bus cost $82,030, with the bulk of the funds coming from the State Lottery. The new buses are twenty-nine percent more fuel efficient than those they replace and have a host of upgrades including air conditioning, highback seats, emergency windows, handicap accessibility, and greater capacity. C MICHAEL BERGEN — mbergen@thestate.com Buy Photo