WORTHINGTON, Ohio — State lawmakers continue discussions among themselves surrounding how to make school buses safer.
But another conversation on school buses is now centering around how to make them more eco-friendly.
Students at Worthington Schools are getting a first-hand experience at what's like to take an electric school bus.
“Electric buses are kind of the wave of the future. Are they completely perfected? No,” said Jeffrey Eble with Worthington Schools.
Despite the rider experience being very similar to riding a traditional school bus, what goes into running the bus is very different. Because the bus does not run on diesel fuel, drivers have to plan charging times.
However, charging stations for electric vehicles are limited.
“There’s not a ton of charging stations out there, so we have relatively short runs in the district. So, the electric bus might work with that,” said Eble.
Worthington Schools paid for their electric bus through an AEP grant. To give you an idea, typically a school bus costs around $120,000. An electric bus runs closer to $400,000.
However, could that extra cash be worth it when it comes to saving money on gas? School officials say it's too soon to tell.
“We’ve got this one, we will establish and track record and see how it goes and that will certainly color our view going forward,” said Eble.
One positive attribute district officials are seeing with the electric bus is how quiet it is. This means the bus driver doesn’t have to shout over students on the bus should they need to get their attention.