American School Bus Council Encourages More Students to “Go Green and Ride Yellow”
School Bus Transportation Eliminates the Need for 17.3 Million Cars, 2.3 Billion Gallons of Fuel and $8 Billion in Fuel Costs
Washington, D.C. – Every day, more than 26 million children take the safest
and most environmentally friendly way to get to school – the yellow school bus. As the nation
gets ready to celebrate Earth Day 2009, the American School Bus Council (ASBC) is
encouraging even more parents and their children to “Go Green and Ride Yellow.”
According to industry estimates, the nation’s school bus transportation system carries more than
half of the country’s children to school each day, saving an estimated 17.3 million cars from
roads surrounding schools each morning. By reducing the number of cars on the road, the school
bus transportation system is providing an estimated annual national savings of 2.3 billion gallons
of fuel and $8 billion in gas costs.
“After working for years to make buses more environmentally friendly, we want to make sure
our riders know how much of an impact they have on the environment by riding the yellow
school bus,” said Barry G. Stock, president of the National School Transportation Association
and member of the ASBC. “An even bigger bonus for these students and their parents is that by
taking the school bus, they are also taking what the U.S. government believes is the safest way to
school.”
To understand the impact that school buses have on individual communities, the ASBC has
developed an online fuel calculator that enables individuals to accurately calculate the
anticipated economic and environmental impact of local bus service. The calculator can be
found on the ASBC Web site at www.americanschoolbuscouncil.com.
“While Earth Day is one day a year when communities come together to help the environment,
school bus manufacturers and industry suppliers work year round to develop more fuel efficient
models and reduce pollution,” said Ken Hedgecock, vice president of sales, marketing and
service for Thomas Built Buses and member of the ASBC. “In fact, model year 2007 school
buses are 60 times cleaner than those built before 1990, and, as older buses are replaced with
newer, cleaner burning ones, they will further reduce our pollution and fuel usage.”
(more)
By encouraging more students to ride the bus to school, the ASBC hopes to continue to reduce
the number of cars on the road, as well as reduce traffic congestion around school properties.
School bus manufacturers are also making large investments in new diesel, natural-gas, liquid
propane injection (LPI), electric hybrid and other engines to further reduce pollution. All newly
constructed school buses must meet new smog restriction regulations by reducing soot and
smog-causing emissions by 90 and 95 percent, respectively.
In addition, since 2003 school bus operators have retrofitted more than 12,000 school buses with
emissions-reduction technology through the help of the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Clean School Bus grants.
Other environmentally friendly statistics found by the ASBC:
TOP FIVE “GREEN” REASONS TO GET ON THE BUS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Every day millions of students rely on school bus transportation to get to school. The American School Bus Council (ASBC) is calling on millions more students to ride the bus to school, thereby eliminating more cars on the road and reducing carbon emissions.
The top five reasons why YELLOW is the GREEN way to get to school, which are:
5) One school bus can carry up to 65 children…that’s 65 parents who can keep their car in the garage and emissions out of the air.
4) School buses are getting “cleaner” every year…model 2007 school buses are 60 times cleaner than those manufactured in 1990.
3) “Old” buses are going green too…since 2003 more than 12,000 school buses have been retrofitted with emissions-reduction technology.
2) We’re helping to reduce soot and smog…all newly constructed school buses are reducing soot and smog-causing emissions by 90 and 95 percent, respectively
1) Students are safer on the bus…the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Department of Transportation and other authorities agree that school buses are the safest form of transportation for getting children to and from school.
– Courtesy of American School Bus Council.
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