ACPS Electric School Bus Fleet Earns Climate and Energy Leadership Award

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) received a Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) 2023 Climate and Energy Leadership Award for its School Bus Electrification Project. In presenting the award on Oct. 11, 2023, COG noted ACPS promoted environmentally-friendly and sustainability efforts over the past several years.

“The Office of Pupil Transportation and Fleet Management (PTFM) is very proud to continue to help ACPS maintain environmental sustainability by participating in various energy-saving initiatives, including this School Bus Electrification Project. These vehicles reinforce our efforts to ensure safety as our main priority when transporting our students to and from school,” PTFM Director MeChale’ Johnson said.

In 2021, PTFM partnered with Dominion Energy’s Electric School Buses Program to lead the charge in clean energy with the purchase of five electric school buses. Through its partnership, ACPS now has 15 electric buses and charging stations, making it the second largest Electric Vehicle (EV) fleet in Virginia. COG praised ACPS for assigning these EV buses to provide transportation services to students living within the boundaries of Title 1 schools. COG stated this promotes equitable practices in providing transportation services to impacted communities.

Learn more about the division’s School Bus Electrification Project by viewing our brief video.

 

COG’s Climate and Energy Leadership Awards recognize local actions that help contribute to the COG regional goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 and support efforts to advance equity in historically underserved neighborhoods. The program highlights a broad range of climate solutions for their unique engagement practices as well as their results, creativity and ability to be replicated.