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The Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Facilities Planning Advisory Council (FPAC) focused on transportation issues in its 4 February meeting and, within that, discussed some issues related to an Electric School Bus (ESB) program.

ESB Request for Information (RFI)

The previous School Board directed FCPS facility staff to issue an Request For Information (RFI) as to how to structure and what it would take to convert 100 percent of the FCPS school bus fleet to ESBs by 2030. Evidently that RFI was issued — not just for school buses, but for the entire FPCS fleet of vehicles, including the many vans they use to transport special ed students. Responses were required by 31 January 2020. Staff is currently preparing material from the RFI to present to the School Board in an upcoming meeting.

FCPS and Dominion pilot project ESB

FCPS has been selected to receive eight of the 50 ESBs in Dominion’s initial pilot project.

FPCS will receive eight ESBs next year in the Dominion pilot project. While exact terms and conditions have yet to be determined, here are some items (that might be, to emphasized, modified before finalization of terms):

• Cost per bus
  • FCPS costs will be about $130,000 per bus ($104,000 for the base bus + another $25,000 +/- for add on’s (including heating and AC)). 
    • This is somewhat higher than a diesel bus price as FCPS’s current diesel buses run $107k to $112k (unsure whether that includes ‘add ons’ or not) and are on 15 year leases. 
    • The “total” bus cost in the pilot program (these eight buses) could be as much as $300,000, with Dominion covering all the electric-specific additional costs (like batteries).
      • IMPORTANT NOTE re cost:
        • That $300,000 figure will fall rapidly, perhaps by half or more, as ESBs move from ‘pilots’ to real production due to learning and economies of scale throughout the supply chain.
        • And, while ESBs cost-to-buy (CtB) is higher, the cost-to-own (CtO) (on CtB vs CtO) is lower due to reduced maintenance and fuel costs without even considering other benefit streams (see below)
  • FCPS is still working out how to pay for the buses but there is a preference (due to, it seems, a preference to spread costs/obligations over time) to rather than purchase.
• The contract status/structure
  • It is still being worked on and is with the lawyers for review.
  • There will be some sort of a joint ownership structure.  Dominion will pay for and provide the charging infrastructure. 
  • There is a plan, without details, for 300 buses over a five year period — or roughly 20 percent of the FCPS bus fleet to be ESBs by the end of 2025.
• Some basic details
  • FCPS plans to split the buses between two locations with four buses at West Ox and four buses at a facility on Stonecroft. 
  • Four buses will be delivered in August and Four buses will be delivered in December. 
  • The bus will have 134 miles of range per charge.  The longest FCPS daily route is less than half that amount and the average is about one-fourth tat.

Seat Belts and School Buses

Dominion mandates a seat-belt requirement if a school system wishes to participate in the ESB program. Most FCPS school buses do not have seat belts. Those that do only have seat belts in the first couple of rows.  (Vans all have seat belts, as per law.) As the NHTSA does not mandate seat belts at this time, FCPS has seen no need to order them on new buses or retrofit existing buses.  FCPS staff figures are that it would cost about $10,000 for seat belts on new buses and about $14,000 to retrofit existing buses. 

The FPAC and ESBs

Within its charter, evidently, the FPAC plans to examine transportation issues. Looking solely at ESBs (and not the vast number of issues like how to increase walking and biking; tackle traffic challenges of ‘kiss & ride’; …), here are two thoughts as to what FPAC might assess for recommendations for School Board action.

• ESB Cost/Benefit analysis
  • There are a wide range of issues surrounding ESB deployment and operations. Understandably, a ‘Facilities’ assessment will be stove-piped assessment of direct ‘facilities costs’ streams (acquisition (purchase), operations, and maintenance costs). However, ESB benefit streams go far beyond lowered fuel costs and reduced maintenance. They include reduced student exposure to diesel fumes (and thus reduced asthma and cancer rates), reduced absenteeism due to illnesses, reduced noise, reduced CO2 levels inside the bus, improved bus performance and safety, and other impacts with real implications for improved educational performance.
  • A simple truth: we don’t have a meaningful handle on these value streams. Without such an understanding, how can we determine whether and how fast to go electric?
  • It is possible that ESB educational performance implications, alone, could be significant enough to justify a significant acceleration of any ESB program.
  • The FPAC could outline this issue, perhaps recommending FCPS conduct (contract for) ESB cost-benefit analysis to support decision-making.
• Seat belts
  • As per above, FCPS does not require seat belts in its bus fleet and Dominion is requiring them as part of the ESB program. This Dominion requirement would create roughly a $15 million additional acquisition cost. FCPS (the FCPS School Board and all other school systems in the Dominion territory) face a question: should a private entity drive its decision-making about public investments.
  • This, too, is a quite complex arena with uncertainty as to whether school bus seat belts pass any reasonable cost-benefit analysis. To this point, Dominion has not made public any analysis justifying its seat belt requirement other than stating that this is due to their ‘safety culture’. One point that is interesting: it is, when all factors are considered, unclear that school bus seat belts end up in an overall safer transportation system (especially if one considers opportunity costs and other investments to improve safety/reduce risks).
  • The FPAC could assess available school bus seat belt cost-benefit analyses to provide the School Board recommendations.

Some relevant Electric School Bus discussions

Reflective of a long interest in and support for plug-in hybrid electric school buses (PHESBs) and Electric School Buses (ESBs), here are some relevant posts.

• Dominion buckling itself in the driver’s seat: Electric School Bus edition, 1 Feb 2020, questions whether a private firm should dictate public policy with an examination of the complexity of school bus cost-benefit analysis.
• Who killed the Electric School Bus? 31 Jan 2020. Highlights how an ESB manufacturer is promoting pro-diesel fuel disinformation.
• Beware of shiny objects: Examples from (Dominion) Virginia Electric School Bus discussions, 31 Jan 2020, calls for a focus on core issues of, assessment of full cost-benefit streams from, and avoid distractions in development of an ESB program.
• Thinking about Virginia legislature and (Dominion) Electric School Bus legislation, 24 Jan 2020, calls for legislators to consider how (and how much) a smartly structured ESB program could benefit all Virginians, including the economic development implications of a ‘made in Virginia’ requirement in this market-creating program.
• Dominion Energy ESB (Electric School Bus) Program advances: questions remain, 16 Jan 2020, highlights the announcement of where Dominion will be placing the initial 50 school buses.
• Legislating for Electric School Buses: Some Thoughts and Principles …, 6 Dec 2019, calls for developing a truly Public-Private Partnership, rather than private interest driven, ESB program; that the project should be accelerated; there is a need for robust cost-benefit analysis; and that Virginia should leverage an ESB program for economic development.
• Dominion Virginia Energy’s Electrifying Bus Announcement: Thoughts on this potentially game changing move, 3 Sept 2019, lays out the Dominion announced program, discusses benefits from ESBs, and issues meriting consideration as Virginia goes electric.
• Mobilizing momentum for cleaner, cheaper school busing (Electric School Buses, Fairfax County, VA, edition), 29 Aug 2019, discusses a Mothers Out Front Fairfax electric school bus event featuring multiple elected officials.
• Electrifying Momentum Toward Electric Buses (Fairfax County, Virginia, edition), 20 Aug 2019, provides an overview of the benefit streams that accrue from moving from diesel-powered to ESBs.
• DC’s electric buses — for tourists and for urban health, 1 May 2018, highlights some benefit streams from going electric.
• Systems Power: Three thoughts for Virginia’s next governor, 17 Aug 2017, lays out why soon-to-be Governor Northam should pursue a Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus (PHESB) program.
• Clean Energy Jobs Take The PHE-School Bus, 20 Nov 2009, lays out a five-year program to drive down PHESB costs to make them cost-competitive with diesel buses (using a seven year total cost period) while creating over 2,000 jobs as part of the recovery program.
• Obama Admin Plugging In School Buses, 20 Apr 2009, discusses a $10 million, 60 PHESB demonstration program.
• Energize America: W5 Solution: PHESBs, 5 Jan 2009, lays out how PHESBs would provide wins across five domains: job creation; boost economic performance; strengthen long-term economic competitiveness; enhance energy security; and reduce emissions.
• Plugging in for a better tomorrow: the school bus ‘solution’, 16 Dec 2008, lays out why PHESBs make sense and how a 1000 purchase order could drive down purchase prices by over 50 percent.