School Transport Electrification -- Adoption, Strategies, Methods and Policy: A Comprehensive Review

TL;DR

This comprehensive review analyzes the current state, challenges, and future strategies for electrifying school transportation, emphasizing policy, technology, and equity considerations to achieve zero-emission goals by 2035.

Contribution

It provides a systematic assessment of over 100 sources, highlighting innovative deployment models like TaaS and identifying key opportunities and challenges in school transport electrification.

Findings

Only 1.8% of US buses are electric, with California owning 29%.

Subsidies and policies are driving growth but cost and technology remain barriers.

SWOT analysis highlights opportunities in autonomous driving and V2G technology.

Abstract

The move towards electric school buses (ESBs) marks a critical step in creating a healthier and more sustainable future for students. To meet the ambitious goal of zero-emission school buses by 2035,this review focuses on the need assessment, practices, gaps, challenges, and way forward. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of more than 100 relevant sources, resulting in a final investigation. In-depth, systematic, and qualitative content analysis with SWOT analysis produced critical insights into school transport electrification. The results showed that 1.8% of the total buses in the US have already been converted to electric, where California alone owning 29% of the buses. Subsidies from various agencies and programs have contributed to the rapid growth of electrification. However, challenges in cost, technology, and policies must be mitigated through innovation and stakeholder partnerships. Policy support is boosting subsidies, industry investment and market readiness. Equitable policy is important to support underserved and disadvantaged populations, which can be addressed through four key dimensions of equity: procedural, recognition, distributive, and reparative equity. Furthermore, the traditional bus deployment model is still the most common, whereas Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) is an innovative ESB deployment model with the potential to accelerate ESB adoption by integrating vehicle-to-grid. SWOT analysis indicated that the achievement of the zero-emission goal, autonomous driving, and repowered vehicle technology are the greatest opportunities. Dynamic electrification strategies, V2G technology and system resiliency are yet to be discovered, which could be crucial for mass electrification.