First Electric Bus Unveiled in Tarrytown School District

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A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Aug. 28 for first electric bus in Tarrytown district.

September 6, 2023

By Rick Pezzullo—

The first electric school bus in the Tarrytown School District was recently unveiled.

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A ribbon-cutting was held Aug. 28 with school officials, Tarrytown Mayor Karen Brown and former State Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, who obtained a grant to help the district purchase what is planned to be the first of several in the coming years.

“The electric bus is a welcome addition to our fleet. It marks change for our district and environment as we push for a cleaner, healthier future for our students and surrounding community,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond Sanchez.

The district started looking into adding electric buses to its fleet following an electric school bus forum in Jan. 2022 co-hosted by Westchester County Executive George Latimer, the county’s Office of Energy and Sustainability and the Westchester chapters of Mothers Out Front.

Last month, NYSERDA released the Public School Bus Electrification Program draft eligibility guidelines to ensure students have increased access to clean and healthy transportation in accordance with the state. The goal is for all new school bus purchases to be zero-emissions by 2027 and that all school buses on the road will be zero-emissions by 2035.

“Our intent is to be compliant with the state and to definitely be able to add more buses, with funding through grants as possible,” said Brian Fried, Assistant Superintendent for Business.

Brown noted the villages of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow and the school district have applied for a federal grant to fund a program called “Safe Streets and Roads for All” that would pay for projects aimed at making roadways safer to walk and bike.

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