Next year, many Hingham Public School students will have a cleaner and quieter ride to school as the district adds more than a dozen electric buses to its fleet. 

Last spring, HPS applied for the Environmental Protection Agency grant to fund the lease for three electric buses. The Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, is a government-run organization established in 1970, created to protect the environment and human health of the U.S. After qualifying for the grant, HPS broke ground on the charging stations in the spring for the first three buses at the bus depot near Bare Cove. This would just be the beginning, however, as last month, on November 10th, the school committee voted to lease an additional 10 electric buses. Most public school districts, including Hingham, lease their buses. As 10 diesel buses were set to come off the books, the 10 new electric buses will fill their place. This will result in the HPS fleet being roughly half diesel and half electric.

Although the current diesel buses are both safe and reliable, they have certain drawbacks that should be acknowledged. For example, the fumes that it creates can be harmful for children and adults because it uses diesel as fuel. According to the NIH, exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to long-term risks of lung cancer and respiratory dysfunction.

Additionally, these fumes are also harmful to the environment, as the sulfur content of diesel fuel can lead to the release of particulate matter into the atmosphere.  The fuel that the bus runs on can also affect the student experience of riding the bus to and from school, as regular bus goer Orlando Vittorini states, “Although I enjoy my ride on the bus, the unpleasant smell of diesel and the loud noise from the engine can make the ride less enjoyable .”

The substitution from diesel to electric will certainly benefit students and the environment. The IC Type C electric buses that HPS is set to acquire promise the same level of safety and reliability as the diesel alternative, with added benefits for students and the environment.

First, the students’ health will benefit as the potentially harmful diesel fumes will be replaced by lithium-ion batteries. The harmful effects of particulate matter entering the lungs due to sulfur in the exhaust can be avoided, decreasing the risk of long-term respiratory problems in students.

In addition, the environmental footprint of these vehicles will also be improved. Spencer Farish, another regular bus goer, explains, “While traveling with many people on a bus on its own is more beneficial for the environment, an even better way (to benefit the environment) is to opt for electric alternatives because even if they are not run on 100% renewable energy at the moment, it allows room to continue expanding these sources, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal. These developments add cleaner energy to the grid and make electric vehicles more green without a need to replace them as companies continue to invest in energy sources that are less damaging to the environment.”

The town of Hingham’s overall carbon emission goal is to eventually reach ‘net zero’ by 2040. 

As summed up by the HPS Director of Transportation Padraig Cunningham,”Moving to Electric Buses creates a quieter, smoother and more health-friendly environment for all students and staff.” The adoption of low-emission, clean energy transportation represents a vital step in Hingham’s ultimate goal of reaching ‘net zero’ carbon emissions.