Glades County School District (GCSD) in Florida has just introduced 13 electric school buses to its fleet for the 2024-2025 school year. 

The new electric buses will replace more than half of the district's outdated diesel buses, some of which have been in operation for more than 25 years. Each of the new buses offer much-needed air conditioning. Until now, only three buses in the district’s fleet had this feature.

Blue Bird supplied the 13 Type C Vision electric-powered school buses to GCSD. The buses generate no emissions and can carry approximately 77 students up to 120 miles on a single charge. 

GCSD partnered with Highland Electric Fleets to support the fleet and infrastructure upgrades. 

The district anticipates substantial savings; others have reported an energy cost of just 19 cents per mile for electric buses compared to 79 cents per mile for diesel. 

“We are thrilled to supply Glades County School District with our industry-leading electric school buses,” said Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader at Blue Bird Corporation. “Moving forward, most Glades County students will enjoy clean and air-conditioned rides to and from school daily. We applaud the school district for investing in 'clean & cool' school buses putting student health and comfort first.” 

GCSD funded the new buses through a grant of nearly $5 million from the EPA's Clean School Bus Rebate Program. To date, the program enabled more than 1,300 school districts nationwide to replace old diesel buses with nearly 9,000 electric and ultra-low emission vehicles. 

Blue Bird has more than 2,000 electric school buses in operation today. 

GCSD purchased its advanced electric vehicles through Florida Transportation Systems, Inc., Blue Bird’s authorized dealer in Tampa.