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EPA Regional Administrator Earthea Nance, left, and U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey listen to a Fort Worth ISD school bus driver at the unveiling of the school district’s new electric school buses on June 20, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)
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Fort Worth ISD recently previewed the green future of its yellow school bus fleet.

The Environmental Protection Agency, in January, awarded $6 million to Fort Worth ISD through the bipartisan Clean Bus Program. The district plans to buy 15 electric school buses with the grant.

The EPA showed off an electric school bus from Everman ISD during a June press conference in east Fort Worth.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, was a proponent of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, which gave the EPA $5 billion to help districts replace traditional school buses with vehicles that release little to no greenhouse gas emissions. 

“I am a proud graduate of Fort Worth Independent School District, and I love the fact that our school district is on the cutting edge of innovation and newer deployed, cleaner buses for kids to be able to get back and forth from school and to sporting events,” Veasey said.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey speaks at a press conference about the importance of new electric school buses at the Fort Worth ISD Teaching and Learning Center June 20, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)

The new electric buses will have four times the torque compared to diesel-powered buses which will allow them to gain speed quicker but will only have 130-mile range, according to officials. 

The BlueBird electric buses cost between $350,000 and $400,000. Diesel buses cost $100,000. 

The new electric buses cost more upfront, but officials expect lower cost of maintenance and fuel. The electric buses save approximately $83,000 in a 15-year lifetime.

An electric Everman ISD school bus parked outside the Fort Worth ISD Teaching and Learning Center pictured on June 20, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)

Alberto Silva Fernandez is a multimedia fellow at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at albert.silva@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.