SC to spend $23M from settlement on new school buses to replace part of aging fleet
More South Carolina children will get to ride to and from school new buses after the state approved spending millions of dollars to replace part of the state’s aging bus fleet.
On Tuesday, state leaders announced plans to spend $23.6 million on 235 new school buses for 11 school districts.
That spending will come from South Carolina’s $34 million share of a $2.9 billion Environmental Mitigation Trust set up in 2017 by German automaker Volkswagen to settle litigation brought forward by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California. Then, Volkswagen officials admitted to installing devices in its vehicles intended to cheat diesel emissions tests.
“Not only will these new propane buses help ensure over 300,000 bus riders get to and from school safely and on time, it will save tax payers millions of dollars while drastically reducing emissions,” said state schools Superintendent Molly Spearman.
Every bus will be air conditioned and include features such as backup cameras, Spearman said.
Those districts slated to get new buses are Aiken, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester County School District Two, Greenville, Horry, Lexington School District One, Richland School District One, Richland School District Two, and York School District Four.
The state also awarded $608,000 to the Charleston Area Regional Transit Authority for more electric buses and $295,500 to the Pee Dee Transportation Authority for two electric transit buses and charging stations.
“This is an important step toward cleaner, safer transportation for South Carolina,” said Ray Farmer, director of the state’s Department of Insurance.
In 2017, the state’s Education Department said it needed $72 million to replace about 35% of South Carolina’s 5,600 school buses.
In 2019, the state awarded $7.8 million to four school districts to buy 78 new buses. CARTA received $1.4 million for two electric transit buses and charging stations, and the city of Anderson received $73,500 to help pay for a natural gas transit bus.
The current average age of a school bus is seven years old. Spearman said that will drop to five once the new buses are included.
When the new buses come in, the state still will have 263 buses that are still 15 years old or older, most of which are used as back up vehicles and not for student’s daily routes, Spearman said. The average age of the spare buses is 16 years old, with the oldest one built in 1988.
Spearman said in order to replace buses on a 15-year cycle, the department’s goal, the General Assembly would need to spend $35 million a year.
“I continue to ask for that from the General Assembly, and I hope they’re in that mindset and this is not a one-year thing,” Spearman said. “We’ve got to keep that infrastructure as part our yearly spending,” Spearman said.
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 12:52 PM.
