Texas District Launches Propane School Bus Program
San Antonio ISD earns a DERA grant of nearly $300,000 to be used in replacing 11 diesel buses with propane models.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Independent School District (ISD) will bring its first propane school buses into its fleet after earning a Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded San Antonio ISD $286,487 in DERA funding to be used in replacing 11 diesel school buses with propane models. The district has a total fleet of 261 school buses.
Nathan Graf, San Antonio ISD’s senior executive director of transportation and vehicle maintenance, said that the district’s propane program has been dubbed “Clean, Green Yellow School Bus Machines.” The initiative will have an educational component, with signs placed inside the propane buses to inform students about the alternative fuel.
“The signs will be updated quarterly to show students the cost savings from use of propane, the reduction level of pollutants, and the reduction level in idling of the school bus fleet and the associated savings in money and reduction level of pollutants,” Graf said.
He added that the information will be displayed in creative ways. For example, a sign about pollution reduction will be presented in the form of a math problem, with the answer at the bottom.
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