Wheels on 23 electric school buses in Galesburg have been going round and round for just over two weeks now. They’ve been added to Galesburg Community Unit School District 205’s fleet, and have since offered students in the city cleaner, safer, and quieter rides. In the process, the environment outside has benefitted—along with the one in the classroom.
Appearing exactly like the typical 13-row, 77-passenger school buses traveling around the corners of streets in all 50 states, these new additions don’t look like anything out of the ordinary. The school district in Williamsfield, a smaller town in southwest Illinois, changed their entire school-bus fleet to electric recently, inspiring administrators in Galesburg to go from diesel-powered vehicles to something else.
Galesburg Community Unit School District 205’s partnered with First Student, a third-party transportation provider, to deploy these buses. Kevin Matthews, the organization’s head of electrification, said this switch has brought about unexpected changes in the behavior of students.
“Our drivers report that the students are better behaved on the buses now. We feel that's probably attributable to the lower noise. When something's loud and you're having to speak over the top of it, that makes you louder, that makes you more animated,” Matthews said. “So having this very quiet ride to school really reduces that and leads to better student behavior, and that leads to better educational outcomes.”
The district’s superintendent, John Asplund, said this venture into using renewable energy benefits not only the environment, but students’ overall well-being, too.
“We feel like this is something that can benefit people in their everyday health. This is just one small thing we’re trying to do to help our kids every day,” Asplund said.
Asplund and other leadership were in attendance for a showcase event for the buses that was held on Thursday, November 14th, at Lombard Middle School. Even if residents interested in seeing the formal deployment of the buses might’ve missed out, every schoolday they’ll have the chance to see those signature yellow mammoths out and about, though they might have to look closer than usual to spot any differences.
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