First Student, a leading school transportation provider in North America and an industry leader in electrification, was named the winner of the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo’s “Leading Private Fleet” award at the organization’s annual industry conference in Las Vegas.

First Student is the first student transportation company to win this award. First Student’s electric vehicle team, led by Head of Electrification Kevin Matthews, was recognized for its outstanding efforts and achievements in deploying electric school buses nationwide.

In winning the award, First Student prevailed over a competitive slate of national transportation and logistics providers. Past winners of this award include Anheuser-Busch, Frito Lay, Central Freight Lines, Matheson Trucking and other leading global logistics and transportation companies.

Why Electric School Buses from First Student on Vimeo.

“We’re deploying the future of student transportation – electrifying our fleet and providing cleaner, safer rides for students so they arrive at school ready to learn. I am immensely proud of the great work of our electrification team,” said First Student Chief Executive Officer and President John Kenning. “As this award demonstrates, First Student is leading the way in the electrification of yellow school buses in North America.”

“Today’s award validates all the hard work First Student has put into electrifying our school bus fleet and sets a new standard of excellence for our team to meet and exceed in the future,” Matthews said. “Every diesel school bus we transition to electric provides tangible health and environmental benefits to the students and communities we serve. We are grateful to Advance Clean Transportation and the judging panel for recognizing a student transportation fleet as a leader and shining a light on the tremendous work we’re doing modernizing America’s school buses. I also want to acknowledge the First Student electrification team that has worked tirelessly on our electrification programs. Not only are we the leading student transportation company, but we are one of the leading electrification companies in the whole transportation industry.”

The annual ACT Expo is widely regarded as North America’s largest advanced clean vehicle technology gathering. Both John Kenning and Kevin Matthews will participate in prominent thought-leadership sessions at this year’s event. Kenning will take part in the mainstage panel session, “Energy Transition Executive Roundtable: Navigating the New Fuel Frontier,” which will explore hidden opportunities in electrification. Matthews will join the breakout session, “Achieving School Bus Fleet Electrification,” where he will share First Student’s approach to the EV transition.  He will also co-moderate sessions for ACT Expo’s Fleet Operator Sessions.

First Student has successfully deployed more than 350 electric buses across North America in pursuit of its goal to transition 30,000 diesel vehicles to electric by 2035. The electric buses rolled out to date have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 4,935 tons. Accelerating the company’s efforts is $274 million in federal, state and utility funding that will electrify 1,422 buses in 74 school districts. Of that, $178.4 million in funding was secured through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program – the most of any private contractor.

This tranche of funds will enable the company to deploy 526 electric school buses in 49 school districts across the U.S. First Student worked closely with participating school districts to navigate the EPA’s intensive application process and modernize their power infrastructure to support the new electric buses.