School districts want more electric buses. Will their plans survive the Trump Administration?

Compton Unified debuted 25 zero-emissions electric school buses Wednesday that will start transporting students later this spring.

“These buses represent more than just a ride to school. They represent a brighter, cleaner, and a healthier future for our students,” said Sandra Moss, a Compton school board trustee.

Pollution from fossil-fuel-powered buses and trucks are a major contributor to Los Angeles’ terrible air quality. That’s particularly true in a place like Compton, which is surrounded by major trucking routes.

“ I feel so excited,” said Ann Zelaya, who has driven gas-powered buses carrying Compton students for almost two decades. “It's going to be more clean air, and it's going to be better for everybody, especially for our health.”

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Ann Zelaya has driven gas-powered buses carrying Compton students for almost 20 years. “ I feel so excited,” she said of her new electric ride. “It's going to be more clean air, and it's going to be better for everybody, especially for our health.”

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A child’s bus commute can account for a third of their daily exposure to some air pollutants, including emissions from the vehicle they’re riding in. Compton Unified uses 58 buses daily to transport 1,000 of its nearly 17,000 students. (California does not require schools to provide transportation for all students.)

The district is one of several in California braiding together funding from government agencies, utilities and other partners to upgrade noisy, aging, pollution-spewing buses with quiet, zero-emission electric models.

“There is a high demand,” said Hector De La Torre, a member of the California Air Resources Board, which has helped distribute more than a billion dollars to schools for zero-emission buses. “So much so that we have to turn people away when they request money for the buses.” He said 1,100 of the state’s 20,000 school buses are electric.

State law says new school vehicles must be zero-emission by 2035 with some exceptions, including for rural school districts.

“Many of the communities that have been most affected by poor air quality can now be able to access part of a cleaner future for them,” said Sue Gander, who directs the Electric School Bus Initiative at the World Resources Institute.

What might happen to the bus program under the Trump Administration?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Compton Unified and contractor Thomas Built Buses nearly $9.9 million for 25 buses in 2022 as part of the Clean School Bus Program. The following year it again selected the school district, together with contractor Highland Electric Fleets, for an award worth $8.6 million for another 25 buses.

The first installment of electric buses represents 43% of the 58 buses Compton Unified uses daily to transport 1,000 of its nearly 17,000 students.

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Ashley Balderrama

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The district worked with Southern California Edison to pay for the charging infrastructure through the Charge Ready Transport program.

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Ashley Balderrama

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The $5 billion federal program, part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is the largest dedicated source of funding to help school districts update their fleets, Gander said.

But there are threats to this money.

President Donald Trump froze the program’s funding in January and delayed electric school bus projects throughout the country. The administration released some funds after a court order, but the fate of $2.2 billion is still unclear.

“The wheels are turning,” said Yasmine Agelidis, an attorney with Earthjustice and a member of the Los Angeles County Electric Truck and Bus Coalition. “And to take away funding now is to really put a wrench in a lot of that work.”