One Rural Maine School District’s Electric School Bus Experience

When Scott Lawyerson, the Head of Maintenance and Head Bus Driver at MSAD 13, was asked to describe experience with the district's new electric school bus in one word he said "dependable."

Over the past 3 years, Maine has been awarded 72 electric school buses across 28 school districts through the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus program. The Upper Kennebec Valley High School was in the first round of funding and has been operating their bus for a year. They are just kicking off their second school year using the bus full time, and it has already become a favorite for students and drivers alike.

This summer, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) Climate & Clean Energy team met with MSAD 13 Superintendent Sandra MacArthur and Scott to learn about their experience with the electric school bus. They were incredibly open and gracious with their time, which reflects the approach they've taken to sharing the bus with the greater Bingham community.

"We've been very open with it," Scott said. "Whenever anybody comes around and wants to see it or look at it, I make sure they have access to it. They ask me questions about it, and I'm very honest with them." The school has held several open houses for community members to come check out the electric bus, but it has really been the bus's consistent performance and positive review from students that have led to community acceptance.

"I think we've won them over because it does everything we want it to do," Superintendent MacArthur noted.

Scott has lived in Bingham for most of his life and can relate to some of the skepticism he heard from the community when the bus was first awarded. An electric school bus is a change for any community, and many people were unsure if it would be up to the task. But, Scott prides himself on being open to change, and the bus was being awarded for free so he decided to give it a chance.

"I think a lot of people have warmed up to it," Scott said as we cruised quietly from Bingham to Moscow. "It runs well every day, and the kids love it." The bus's lightning bolt emblems and blue highlights differentiate it from the rest of the fleet, and we got several waves as we passed locals on a bluebird day. "It handles well, and the heating system is awesome, works great," Scott added.

MSAD 13 is a rural school district, covering the towns of Bingham and Moscow along the northern stretch of the Kennebec River in Somerset County. On a typical day, the bus logs 75-80 miles including morning and afternoon runs for both schools plus a pre-k run. The bus can get about 125 miles on a charge, so the daily use is well within is range. The bus then charges up for seven to eight hours each night and is ready to go in the morning.

Scott and Sandra aren't yet confident about longer trips to sporting events and field trips, but they get asked regularly by students if they can take the electric bus any time they head out on a trip. Only one bus operates over the summer for summer school and programming, and they've chosen to use the electric school bus for all of their summer transportation needs because of its dependability.

Scott also serves as the local Fire Chief, and while he isn't concerned about fire danger relative to diesel buses, he makes sure his bus drivers are trained on fire safety and know how to respond in the event of fire.

Superintendent MacArthur had some sage advice for any school districts considering applying for an electric school bus: "My advice to them would be make sure you know what you're going to use the bus for, and that it has the capacity to do what you want it to do. There are limitations on an electric bus, but if it you're looking for a bus to do a run consistently throughout the day, and you're under 120 miles, it's going to work fine for you."

Her favorite part about the bus so far has been the students' reaction to it. "Students have been really excited about it. It's spacious, it's quiet, they like the music system in it. I think it's very exciting to see the kids get excited about it."

While we didn't get to see students interacting with the bus, there was still plenty of excitement to go around as NRCM staff piled into the bus for our own private tour. The ride was quiet, the air inside was fresh and clean, and yes, the music system was great. It was easy to talk to each other and to Scott as we rode without loud diesel engine noise.

Electric buses are exciting for good reason. In addition to a superior riding experience, clean buses provide a much healthier environment for students than diesel buses, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and cost less to maintain and operate than diesel counterparts because they don't include complex combustion engines that rely on volatile fossil fuels.

After our visit to Bingham to learn about their clean bus, NRCM staff came away echoing what bus drivers have been hearing from students all year: "This bus is awesome."

-by Josh Caldwell, NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Policy Advocate and Outreach Manager

Banner photo: Bingham's electric school bus sits charging outside the school (SToomey/NRCM)

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