AQMD Bus Program
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board has approved $78.2 million that will be distributed to school districts in four Southern California counties to replace 286 high-polluting school buses with zero-emission models, the agency announced Thursday.
The funds will pay for 124 zero-emission buses for Los Angeles County districts, along with 50 buses in Orange County, 60 in Riverside County and 52 in San Bernardino County.
A total of 35 school districts in the four counties will benefit from the funds. In Riverside County, the Moreno Valley Unified School District will receive the most new buses, with 24. Jurupa Unified will receive 17. Other districts receiving new buses will be Banning Unified, Menifee Union, Murrieta Valley Unified and Nuview Union.
“The new buses are expected to reduce harmful emissions by about 46.3 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and 3.5 tons of particulate matter each year, significantly improving air quality, particularly for students,” according to an AQMD statement. “More than 87 percent of the new buses will serve overburdened communities, ensuring that cleaner air reaches those who need it most.”
The new buses are expected to begin arriving by the middle of 2026.
AQMD began the bus-replacement program in 2001, awarding a total of nearly $372 million in funds from various sources, replacing more than 1,900 diesel school buses with alternative-fuel or zero-emission models, according to the agency.
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