Explore data and trends on electric school bus adoption and U.S. school buses
WRI's Electric School Bus Initiative is collecting and sharing data to help communities, school districts, policymakers and other electric school bus stakeholders track and accelerate an equitable transition to electric school buses.
This dashboard contains the latest tracking and interactive data visualizations on electric school buses' location, adoption status, manufacturer, funding source and bus type, as well as the social, economic and health conditions of the students the buses serve. It also explores the distribution of fuel types and school bus ages in the entire U.S. school bus fleet, at the national and state level.
How to use this dashboard
- To move between pages of the dashboard, click the yellow buttons along the bottom.
- All the visualizations are interactive: Hover over a section of a chart or map to see a pop-up with more details. Filter using the drop-down boxes in the top right of many pages. You can also filter each page by clicking on a section of any visualization, then click that section again to reset the filter.
- To filter data within a chart or map, click on any of the categories in the legend.
- Click here to view the dashboard full-screen in a new window.
- Zoom in on maps using the + and – buttons.
- Learn more about using the dashboard in our tutorial video, here.
Data Dashboard Tutorial
Watch this quick overview video to learn more about how to get the most out of the data in this dashboard:
Where does the data in this dashboard come from?
As of February 2024, data includes estimated values for when each school bus is in each adoption stage (awarded, ordered, delivered, or in operation) where those values had previously been blank. Observed data still remains, resulting in data that includes both observed data and then estimations to present a complete picture of electric school bus adoption. Estimations were calculated based on observed data, and estimation methodology can be found here. We believe estimated data presents a more realistic picture of the state of electric school bus adoption.
Data on the adoption of electric school buses, including their location, status (awarded, ordered, delivered or operating), manufacturer, funding source and type comes from the Electric School Bus Initiative's Dataset of Electric School Bus Adoption (Lazer and Freehafer 2023). The full dataset is available for download here and an updated dataset is published every six months, while the data in this dashboard is updated every month, based on the Electric School Bus Initiative’s real-time tracking. The technical note contains information about data sources, collection methods and limitations. This dataset is also the basis for our regularly updated article on "The State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US."
- Lazer, L. and L. Freehafer. March 2023. “A Dataset of Electric School Bus Adoption in the United States.” Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://datasets.wri.org/dataset/electric_school_bus_adoption
Data on the social, economic and demographic characteristics of school districts also comes from the Electric School Bus Initiative's Dataset of Electric School Bus Adoption (Lazer and Freehafer 2023), with underlying data from the U.S. Census, EJScreen and CDC.
- Lazer, L. and L. Freehafer. March 2023. “A Dataset of Electric School Bus Adoption in the United States.” Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://datasets.wri.org/dataset/electric_school_bus_adoption
Data on the overall fleet of U.S. school buses (of any fuel type) comes from the Electric School Bus Initiative's Dataset of U.S. School Bus Fleets, which we compiled from state-level datasets. The full dataset is available for download here, and the technical note contains information about data sources, collection methods and limitations. There are no plans to update this dataset.
- Lazer, L., L. Freehafer and J. Wang. February 2023. “Dataset of U.S. School Bus Fleets.” Version 2. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://datasets.wri.org/dataset/school_bus_fleets
Data on the characteristics of electric school bus funding sources come from the Electric School Bus Initiative's "Clearinghouse: Electric School Bus Funding and Financing Opportunities." The full clearinghouse is available for download here. This resource is updated annually, most recently in April 2023.
- Levinson, M., A. Achury. April 2023. "Clearinghouse: Electric School Bus Funding and Financing Opportunities." Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://electricschoolbusinitiative.org/clearinghouse-electric-school-bus-funding-and-financing-opportunities
Data on the manufacturers and types of buses comes from direct correspondence between WRI and OEMs.
Data on state-level electric school bus legislation and policy comes from:
- Council of the District of Columbia
- Electric Trucks Now
- 2022 Colorado Clean Truck Strategy
- Delaware General Assembly
- Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
- World Resources Institute
Credits and Contacts
This dashboard was created by Leah Lazer, Research Associate, World Resources Institute, from Lydia Freehafer and Tom Meyer. Contact Lydia Freehafer at lydia.freehafer@wri.org with questions about the data and contact Katherine Roboff, Senior Manager, Communications & Engagement at katherine.roboff@wri.org with media requests.