USA – New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a fresh USD 200 million funding package to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission school buses across the state. This is in addition to previous rounds of funding for electric school buses. The new funds will be administered through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and supported by allocations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program, making it one of the largest combined federal and state-level investments in school bus electrification to date. This is in line with a state mandate: “all new school bus purchases must be zero-emission by 2027, and by 2035, every bus on the road must be electric”.

Funding will take the form of subsidies to support districts in covering the higher upfront cost of electric buses compared to diesel, as well as the installation of charging infrastructure. While grants will not cover the entire cost of each vehicle, they are designed to significantly reduce capital outlay, ensuring that operators can realistically replace diesel units with e-buses on a large scale.