Bibb County’s fleet of electric school buses promises cleaner rides

Other than a painted green bird with an electric plug for a tail, the Bibb County School District’s electric buses don’t appear all that different from the ones that have been regularly shuttling kids to and from school.

But once they start moving, the difference is clear.

The school district formally announced the arrival of 15 Blue Bird electric buses Thursday morning, where bus driver Clarenza Payton noted differences between the buses and their gas-powered counterparts.

Payton, who has been working as a bus driver for the Bibb County School District for just under a year, said the electric buses are much quieter and don’t produce any fumes like the diesel buses.

“The quietness helps you manage the kids better,” he said.

He drives one of the electric buses, which made their debut back in November behind $6 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. Funding was approved in December 2024.

School district leadership, clean air advocates, as well as bus and charging station manufacturers celebrated the buses at the district’s transportation depot Thursday with a ribbon-cutting.

Anthony Jackson, the district’s transportation director, began his remarks by letting out a booming “Woo!” 

He said two buses have been allocated to each of the high school zones in the county.

Along with the new electric buses the district has been shifting toward cleaner energy with propane buses, which constitute 70% of the district’s current fleet and were introduced starting in 2014, Jackson said.

“It was really great to have everyone here to feed off what’s proven to be a very positive pathway as it relates to alternative fuel or power for school buses for transporting students,” he said.

The electric buses are also expected to save the district money between maintenance and repair costs, Jackson added.

The new buses will not be outfitted with stop-arm cameras that the county rolled out in 2017. The cameras were popularized across the state behind a 2024 law that increased penalties for drivers passing stopped school buses.

Bibb County Schools has since removed the stop-arm cameras on its buses. Jackson said they are not required by law. 

“The program was not generating the benefits that we were looking for in totality,” he said.

The district also built out 15 EV charging stations from Highland Electric for each of its new vehicles. Charging the vehicles requires a certain level of “discipline” in remembering to keep the battery topped up, Payton said, but otherwise poses no major inconvenience.

Mothers & Others for Clean Air, a Georgia-based advocacy group for better air quality, provided flyers on the benefits of electric buses and shared their support for the district’s initiative.

Keisha Callins, a doctor and health care champion who has been part of the group for three years, spoke at Thursday’s event.

She said it’s small things like the electric buses that ultimately contribute to long-term environmental benefits.

Callins said diesel exhaust creates carcinogens and other pollutants that could lead to future health complications for children, such as heart disease, stroke and dementia.

“We want to make sure we’re putting things in place so that even after we’re gone, our children will benefit from the seeds we plant,” she said.