Invested In Climate

The great school bus transition with Highland Electric & Tim Shannon, Ep #43

Mar 14, 2023

32:59

There’s a lot of talk about electric cars, but what about other vehicles like buses and trucks? Buses and trucks create 30% of emissions from the transportation sector, so they need to be a priority.

This episode focuses on school buses. It turns out that diesel school buses not only pollute the environment, but they cause real health problems for the kids who ride them. Fortunately, the shift to electric school buses has begun, and we’re featuring two people working hard to make it happen. Today, you’ll hear from Duncan McIntyre and Tim Shannon. Duncan is CEO of Highland Electric Fleets, a startup that helps school districts electrify their buses. Tim meanwhile is the Transportation Director for Twin Rivers Unified School District. He’s known as the godfather of electric school buses. We talk about the importance of phasing out diesel buses, what it takes, where we’re at in the transition, and what’s coming.

Alright, hop on the bus and let’s go.

In today’s episode, we cover:

[2:29] Highland Electric Fleets & Duncan’s journey into climate work
[5:40] Tim’s role & journey into climate work
[6:25] The US school bus landscape & what's wrong with it
[8:53] The climate impacts of diesel buses & how electrifying them will help
[10:41] The harmful effects of diesel buses on kids
[11:50] The state of maturity of electric bus technology
[14:20] What it takes for a school district to transition to electric buses
[16:39] How Highland Electric is breaking down barriers to electric bus adoption
[19:02] The economics: justifying investment & accessing funding
[23:27] Where the adoption of electric buses is at
[26:12] What else needs to happen to accelerate the transition
[28:28] The potential for buses to provide resilient electricity & examples
[30:18] What can listeners do to be involved in the electric bus transition