Durham Adds 54 New Propane School Buses to Washington Fleet

Santos Picacio, the general manger for Durham School Services in Spokane, told School Bus Fleet that the new buses are part of a joint effort with Spokane Public Schools to provide more environmentally-friendly transportation options for students, particularly servicing the district’s special-needs bus routes.

The buses are “eco-friendly [and are a] quieter option that won’t spark anxiety in special-needs students, and [will have] virtually no idling issues in bus bays,” Picacio said.

Michael Warnecke, the transportation specialist for Spokane Public Schools, told SBF that he's grateful for the district's partnership with Durham School Services, and that "it will be nice to see a lot less of a carbon footprint."

Picacio said that 25% of Durham's fleet will be propane by next school year, and the company will use an 18,000 gallon onsite propane tank to fuel the buses.

Durham School Services transports nearly 7,000 Spokane Public Schools students more than 9,000 miles every school day, according to a post on the district’s Facebook page. The district added in the post that over the next few months the transportation company plans to replace its more than 200 school buses with propane or clean diesel buses.