Grounded Podcast Episode 45: Magic School Buses

Class is back in session, and nearly 550,000 students in Oregon make the trip to and from school every school day. On this episode of Grounded, we tag along and venture into the magic world of clean-running and electric school buses.

Across the United States, more than 21 million students rely on a school bus for their transportation. However, 90% of these buses still run on carbon-emitting, diesel fuel. 

For decades though, studies have linked diesel exhaust exposure to harmful health conditions that range from asthma to cancer. On top of that, transportation emissions account for most of Oregon's climate-changing pollution.

Fortunately, there's an effort underway to accelerate the transition from diesel big rigs to cleaner running vehicles. There's also federal, state, and utility-provided funding that school districts are taking advantage of to cover the cost of converting to clean-running and electric school buses.

Beaverton School District has one of largest transportation operations in Oregon. Leading the district's operations is Craig Beaver, who explains in this episode how Beaverton is transitioning from diesel to a growing fleet of electric buses.

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Grounded theme music by Oregon artist, Jana Cushman.