The streets of Compton will soon echo with a new kind of hum, as the Compton Unified School District (CUSD) announced on Wednesday the launch of 25 new electric school buses. Expected to be deployed this spring, the new fleet aims to ferry hundreds of students with a promise of reduced emissions and a push toward a cleaner environment. According to KTLA, the district is also preparing for an additional 25 electric buses to join this green brigade in the future.
With Compton surrounded by heavy trucking routes, the local air quality suffers, a condition disproportionately affecting the young lungs traveling in and out of schools daily. Sandra Moss, a Compton school board trustee, hailed the electric buses as a beacon of better air quality, as they "represent a brighter, cleaner, and a healthier future for our students," she mentioned in an interview obtained by LAist.
The significance of having electric buses is especially poignant in L.A. County, where, as Brian Buccella, Chief Commercial Officer at Highland Electric Fleets, remarked, "1 in 11 children have asthma." The switch to electric is also a testament to the collaboration between the CUSD and its transportation provider, Durham School Services, playing a crucial role in the transition. CUSD Superintendent Darin Brawley mentioned during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, as per KTLA, that these electric buses are "an investment in our students’ future—providing safe, clean transportation as they pursue their dreams."
Nevertheless, the current progress in Compton offers a glimpse of what cleaner transportation for schoolchildren might look like. The fleet, funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program, is not only a stride towards better health but also serves as an exemplar of community commitment to sustainable futures. As CUSD Board of Trustees President Micah Ali stated in the KTLA report, the new buses serve as "an exemplar of innovation and social responsibility for our Compton Scholars."
