Step-by-Step Guide | October 17, 2022
Step 2.3: Develop Operations Plan
Overview
It is imperative to develop a plan for both the infrastructure needed to charge your new electric school bus and the associated operational shifts (e.g., route planning, parking arrangement and charging schedules.) You should also consider any planning or procedures needed for cold weather operations or unique routes (e.g., mountainous or long rural routes, sports events and field trips).
You might start by looking at your current fleet and operations, your replacement and budgeting cycles and the current depot or facilities where school buses go at night, and then determine the best routes for electric school buses and locations for charging.
You should also consider how to deploy electric school buses in an equitable way that maximizes health and social benefits for disadvantaged communities. For example, you could place electric school buses on routes through low-income neighborhoods or those with lower air quality.
Finally, you should think about what comes after your first deployment. There are lots of ways to plan your first round of facility upgrades to minimize future costs. If your district has committed to full fleet electrification, you may consider hiring a consulting firm to create a robust plan for operations and phased deployment.
Things to do:
- Hire a project manager or an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm to lead planning if needed
- Assess your current and anticipated fleet, routes and usages
- Identify the depots, routes and purposes best suited for an initial electric school bus deployment
- Engage internal and external stakeholders around plan details
- Develop an operations plan
- Engage Tribal leaders concerning any infrastructure plans that involve Native lands
Ways to include equity:
- Prioritize routes to be electrified based on distributional equity criteria (e.g., students served, neighborhoods covered) alongside route length and topography
- Focus on bringing in electric school buses with wheelchair lifts and other accessibility features so students with disabilities benefit first from improved air quality
- Communicate initial route selection criteria transparently to prevent potential conflicts and engage stakeholders—including school bus drivers, maintenance staff, route residents, and bus-riding students—in decision-making, as appropriate
- Conduct an equity review of the operational plan to identify potential risks, unintended consequences and to ensure all students receive equal or improved service
- Consider hiring project managers from the communities who will be served by the electric school bus fleets. If a district doesn’t have the capacity for hiring, look for free technical assistance programs
Questions to consider:
- What is your current fleet replacement schedule? How do electric school buses fit into this schedule?
- Do you have a plan for how to recycle or retire old diesel-burning school buses?
- How many bus routes do you have? What are their lengths? Do they vary in topography?
- What are your seasonal temperature variations? Will you have special heating or cooling needs to account for?
- Which routes would be easiest to put electric school buses on at the start?
- Is there an opportunity to place electric school buses on routes through neighborhoods with lower air quality or to replace your oldest school buses first to increase the equity impact of this cleaner technology?
- Do you need to change parking arrangements?
- Who will be responsible for charging and when?
- What internal stakeholders (school bus drivers, maintenance workers, dispatch, etc.) need to be consulted and engaged in the planning process and how?
- What external stakeholders (students, parents, caregivers, community groups, etc.) should be consulted and engaged in the planning process and how?
Potential stakeholders:
- District transportation director
- Engineering, procurement and construction contractor (if applicable)
- District fleet manager
- District facilities manager
- District energy manager
- District business and procurement staff
- Electric utility representatives
- School bus drivers, maintenance workers and associated union representatives
- Organizations with expertise in transportation electrification, such as Clean Cities and Communities Coalitions
- Community organizations, including environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, disability rights/justice organizations and organizations that serve the populations around bus depot locations
- Parent and teacher organizations
- Students
- School bus contractor (if applicable)
Resources:
- Template Job Description for a School Bus Electrification Project Manager – WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative: This template job description can be used to hire a project manager for fleet electrification.
- How School Districts Can Include Equity When Choosing Where to Deploy Electric School Buses First – WRI's Electric School Bus Initiative: This article details how school transportation providers can begin to bring equity considerations and data on air quality, income, race and accessibility into their operational planning for school bus electrification.
- Next Stop, Access! An Exploratory Paper on Disability Rights and Justice Throughout the Transition to Electric School Buses – WRI's Electric School Bus Initiative: This guide explores how the electrification of school buses affects students and adults with disabilities and shares suggestions for ensuring fairness and accessibility during the transition.
- A School Day in the Life of an Electric School Bus – WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative: This graphic helps to visualize operations and daily routines related to electric school buses.
- Route Analysis, Range and Efficiency Considerations – US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center: This 16-minute video provides an overview of how to analyze your vehicle routes to determine which routes are best for electric school buses, vehicle range and efficiency considerations.
- All About Operating Electric School Buses in Cold Weather – WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative: This article provides tips and case studies for successfully operating electric school buses in cold climate.
- Fleet Electrification Roadmap for Grossmont Union High School District – ENGIE Impact: This case study from one of the largest school districts in San Diego, California, shows how the district’s technical and financial needs were assessed to create a fleet electrification roadmap.